Welcome to California
by woolSmynx
Summary: Misaki has been over-stressing again, as usual and Usui decides that she needs to take a break. Spring break is coming up, so there's no better time. But will Misaki be willing to go? And if Usui convinces her, what will happen next?
1. Kidnapped

I got the idea for this one while hiking in the Muir Woods in San Francisco, California. (We walked 6.2 miles _**uphill. **_It was brutal.) Alas, spring break ends soon *sob*. Anyway, have fun reading this. I have no clue how many chapters it will take to finish this, but I wrote it instead of doing me required reading, so you should all feel guilty if I don't finish my book. I have to read about 200 pages tomorrow. Funnn… Regardless, read, enjoy, and review please.

**Welcome to California**

Misaki had her head down on her desk. She was so tired. She had been planning the School festival for weeks now. The idea was that each class would volunteer an idea and then all of the ideas would be put into a hat. Each class would draw the idea and then have to do that as the class project. Each class had the idea given to them; that wasn't the problem. The problem was convincing each class that they had to do it. Misaki sighed. She heard the door open to the Student Council Room and immediately lifted her head to go back to work. After seeing who entered, she just put her head back down on her desk with a groan.

"Get out, baka Usui. I'm trying to work."

"It doesn't look like you're working very hard, Prez." Usui leaned in the doorway, smirking.

"That's why I said, _trying_. You happen to be distracting me," came the muffled reply.

"C'mon, Prez. School's over. It's time to go."

"My shift doesn't start for another two hours." Misaki lifted her head again and leaned back in her chair.

Usui came closer and put his elbows on her desk so he was facing her. He slowly shook his head. "No… your shift actually starts in half an hour. I switched it so you could go home sooner, seeing as tomorrow is the first day of spring break. "

"WHAT?! What do you mean you 'switched it'?" Misaki jumped out of her chair, grabbed her jacket, and ran out the door, with Usui right on her heels. "You know perfectly well that it takes twenty-seven minutes to get to the café when you catch the right bus. If that bus is missed, I'll be late for my shift!" she yelled at him while charging down the sidewalk.

Usui grinned at her, his loping gait relaxed and graceful. "Then you had better run faster, Prez," he said, wrinkling his nose at her

Misaki shot him a death glare, but proceeded to speed up.

**After work**

Misaki went through the door to the back alley. She locked up the door and turned around… and practically screamed.

"Baka Usui, don't scare me like that," she said, after she got over her momentary terror.

"But Prez, it's not even dark yet. How come you were so scared?" Usui didn't back up. He got even closer so there were mere inches between their noses.

Instead of blushing and yelling like Usui expected, Misaki closed the gap even further and whispered while glaring, "That's because you were unexpectedly there, perverted outer space alien."

"C'mon Misa-chan. Let's go." Usui took her left hand in his right and led her out of the alley and around the corner. Misaki rounded the corner but refused to move after that.

"Um, Usui? My house is that way." Misaki pointed the opposite direction with her free hand.

"I know," Usui said.

"Then why are you trying to take me that way?" she asked.

"Because I'm kidnapping you," Usui said innocently.

"What do you mean, you're 'kidnapping me'? I have stuff to do. You can't kidnap me. Plus, it's against the law."

"Not when you have parental consent." Usui took a piece of paper out of his pocket and waved it in front of Misaki's face. She snatched it and began to read.

_ Misaki,_

_Usui-san said that he was going to "borrow" you for a few days over the break. I think it's good for you to take a break off of work and just have fun like a normal teenager. Just don't get carried away, all right? Have fun!_

_Love, Mom_

Misaki gasped at the paper. "WHAT!?"

Usui came up and began reading over her shoulder. "See?" he said. "I have permission to kidnap you."

Misaki promptly ripped up the piece of paper. "And now you don't."

Usui sighed and pulled another sheet of paper out of his pocket. "I had a feeling you'd do that, so that was a copy of the original. This—" Usui stopped as Misaki ripped that piece of paper out of his hand and began shredding that one too. "—is another copy," he finished. "I have the original at home. If you really want to go to my house that badly…" he trailed off, waiting for Misaki's reaction.

"Pervert! Why would I want to go to your house _ever_?" Misaki yelled.

"Then I guess I really will have to kidnap you." Usui took a balanced stance and blocked off the sidewalk so Misaki couldn't get by him.

"You can't kidnap me!"

"Yes, I can, Misa-chan. Parental consent, remember?"

"I don't care about that. I have to work over the break! Plus I have schoolwork to do!"

Usui relaxed his stance. "Prez, you know as well as I do that you already finished your schoolwork for the break. And you don't have to worry about work either. I already told Satsuki-san that I'm taking you away during the break so you won't be able to work."

Misaki glared at the boy who was blocking her path. '_So that's why Manager-san always had moe flowers around her whenever she saw Usui or me today…' _she thought.

"Prez."

Usui's voice broke her musings.

"Prez, you know that you need a break. You broke a plate for the first time in months today. You can't concentrate because you're so worked up over this idea exchange for the school festival. You need to relax for at least a few days." Usui's voice was calm and soothing as Misaki tried to think of another excuse to keep from leaving.

"But…"

"Face it, Prez. You don't have any excuses left." Usui had been coming closer while he had been talking to her and suddenly he was whispering in her ear. "It's time for you to come with me." With that, he grabbed Misaki around the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder, like she was a sack of potatoes.

Extremely surprised, Misaki shrieked as her feet left the ground.

"Shhh!" Usui hushed her. "You're being awfully loud."

"LET GO OF ME, YOU PERVERTED OUTER SPACE ALIEN!!!"

"Prez, people are trying to sleep."

"LET GO!"

"Don't wanna."

"LET GO OF—" Usui put her back on the ground in front of himself and pressed his lips against hers.

"Now will you be quiet, Misa-chan?" he breathed, smiling at her red face. "If not, I can just keep kissing you until you decide that you will be."

"I'll be quiet," Misaki muttered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she said.

"All right." Again, Usui kissed her gently on the lips.

When he broke the kiss, Misaki spluttered, "Wh—what was that for?"

Usui shrugged. "You didn't seem sure to me."

"Well, I was!"

"All right, then. C'mon, Prez. We have to get a taxi." Usui took Misaki's hand again and started pulling her down the sidewalk that led away from her house.

"I thought we were going to your house."

"Since when does the victim decide where the kidnapper takes her?"

"Wait," Misaki said, "I'm the _victim_?"

"What else would you be, Prez? Parental consent makes _me_ the kidnapper and _you_ the victim," Usui said, walking backwards so he could see Misaki's face. When Misaki started grumbling about "baka Usui" and "stupid parental consent" he announced loudly, "You know, it was more fun when I was carrying you." Quickly, he picked her up again, but this time he carried her princess style.

"No, no, no! Put me down! Now!"

"Prez, people are going to think I'm really kidnapping you."

"You really _are_ kidnapping me!"

"Misa-chan," Usui gently admonished, "do I have to remind you what happens when you're too loud?"

Misaki's blush told him that he didn't. "No…"

"Very good." Usui kissed her on the forehead, so the red on her cheeks would stay for a while longer. "Now go to sleep or something. We have a long trip ahead of us."

"I can walk, you know."

"Nope. Victim doesn't make the rules, remember?"

"Fine." Much to Usui's surprise, Misaki didn't argue anymore. She just settled more comfortably in his arms and yawned. "You better not to anything perverted to me while I'm asleep," she warned.

"Don't worry, Misa-chan," Usui said, nuzzling her hair. "You'll be just fine."


	2. Airplane?

Yay! Chapter two is finally here! I kept getting inspired to write other things, plus homework and four different music ensembles to practice for. But Happy Easter, everybody and please enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kaichou wa Maid-sama. If I did, I wouldn't be writing a disclaimer, now would I?**

**Chapter 2**

'_What is that noise? And why do my head and stomach feel so… I don't even know… out of it. Where am I?'_

Misaki opened her eyes and saw nothing. Everything was black. '_Have I gone blind?_' She reached up to feel her sightless eyes, but instead felt a piece of fabric covering them. She started to take off the fabric, but a hand caught her wrist.

"No, no, Misa-chan. You can't take off your blindfold. It will ruin the surprise."

"What surprise, baka Usui?" she said, turning towards the place from where his voice had come.

"I can't tell you that either." Misaki could hear the smile on his face.

Suddenly there was a pinging sound and a voice said, "We would like to apologize, Usui-sama. We are about to experience some turbulence, so please fasten your seatbelts firmly. Thank you, Usui-sama."

"An airplane? We're in an _airplane?"_

"No, we're not."

"Usui, we just had a flight attendant tell us about _turbulence_ and that whirring noise? Obviously, we're in an airplane." She reached up again to take the blindfold off, but Usui caught her wrist a second time.

"We aren't in an airplane, Prez," he said.

"Oh really? Then where are we?" Misaki said in her most scathing voice.

"We're in a _jet._" The smile was back.

"A jet? We're in a _jet?"_

"Why do you keep saying things like you don't believe me?" Misaki could picture the pout on her kidnapper's voice.

"Because I _don't_ believe it. Where in the world are you taking me?"

"Not telling."

Misaki glared at him through her blindfold. "Why not?" she said, bitingly.

"'Cuz it's a surprise, Misa-chan. You wouldn't want me to ruin the surprise, would you?" Again, Misaki could picture his face. This time he would be looking at her with big, innocent eyes."

Misaki glared at him as hard as she could, making sure he could feel the coldness through the fabric that obstructed her vision. "Yes, I would."

"Oh. Well, in that case, we're going to America."

"WHAT!?"

Suddenly, something was pressed against Misaki's lips. It was Usui. He was kissing her. "You're being too loud again, Misa-chan," he said. Misaki was sure there was a smirk on his face.

She turned her head the other way and grumbled, "Can I take this stupid blindfold off, now?"

Usui laughed. "Sure thing, Prez. Hold on, I'll untie it for you." Misaki felt something at the back of her head. The blindfold slipped from her face, and she was looking out a window at the ocean below her. It was beautiful seeing the sun reflected on the deep blue water. She peered closer, enthralled. Misaki turned around to look back at Usui and felt a sharp pain in her head. Apparently he had been looking at the ocean over her shoulder and when she turned, they had collided heads. Both held their heads in pain.

"Ow, Prez… Did you really have to head-butt me?"

"I—I didn't mean to. I mean, it wasn't on purpose. I didn't—"

"Usui-sama." The arrival of a smartly dressed, smiling flight attendant interrupted Misaki's ramblings. "Would you like some ice?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you," Usui answered, still not looking up.

The flight attendant continued smiling but when she caught Misaki's eye, the smile turned cold and forced. She turned sharply away and left to get the ice. Misaki gave an involuntary shudder.

The woman quickly returned with an ice pack on a tray. With a start, Misaki noticed that the attendant had changed her appearance. The buttons on her vest and shirt were unbuttoned seductively low, her skirt was shorter, and her hair was in a messy low bun. Misaki quickly looked back out the window, rather than face the woman's spiteful glare again.

"Here is your ice, Usui-sama," she said in a low, husky voice.

"Thanks," Usui said. He smiled at her briefly and then grabbed the ice pack off the tray. "Prez," he said, turning to her. Misaki didn't look away from the window. Usui delicately placed the ice on the side of her temple.

Misaki jerked away, surprised by the sudden cold. She turned towards Usui and saw him smiling at her apologetically. But then she saw the flight attendant again. The woman was glaring daggers at her as she walked away. Misaki opened her eyes wide in alarm and went back to the window. '_How am I supposed to deal with a __**female**__ who hates me? I can deal with guys who hate me but a girl…? That's never happened before…'_

"Prez, here. Take the ice pack," said Usui. "I'm sure your head hurts. You have a hard head, you know," he chuckled.

Misaki grabbed the pack without turning around and placed it on her bump.

"Hey."

"…"

"Prez."

"…"

"Misa-chan—"

Misaki stood up. "I have to go to the bathroom." She left the seats and headed towards the front of the jet. She passed through the curtain that separated the front of the jet and the place where the passengers sat and immediately got slammed into the wall. It was the flight attendant. She grabbed the front of Misaki's shirt.

"Listen, you little bitch," she said menacingly, "I don't know what you did to make Usui-sama take you with him, but he's _way_ out of your league. I've been working on him and his friends for almost a year now, and I do _not _want you to mess that up for me. So back off!" The woman let go of Misaki's shirt and smoothed back her own hair. Then she smiled pleasantly at Misaki and said, "Please enjoy the rest of your flight. Don't hesitate to call me if there is anything you or Usui-sama needs."

Fluidly, she turned around to go into the flight attendant's section of the jet, leaving Misaki gaping after her. Bewildered, Misaki stumbled back through the curtain and headed back to her seat. _'What just happened?' _she thought to herself.

She fell heavily into her seat and resumed staring out the window.

Usui watched her quizzically. He had never seen her this… _depressed_ before. And she wasn't just depressed. She seemed frightened too. Something was very wrong. "Misa-chan…"

"Hmm?"

"What—"

"Usui-sama." The flight attendant was back. "Are there any refreshments that you would care to have at the moment?" she asked, her smile impeccable.

"No. Thank you," he said, dismissing her with a wave of his hand. Misaki had visibly tensed up at the sound of the woman's voice, and he was going to find out why.

As the sound of the flight attendant's shoes clacked away, Misaki relaxed slightly. Usui's sharp eyes hadn't missed her reaction, as well as her reaction earlier. The woman was definitely the one who was changing Misaki's mood so drastically, and Usui had a pretty good idea why she was.

"Misa-chan…" he tried again.

"Hmm?"

"I need you to hold still."

Misaki glared at him suspiciously. "Why?"

"Just trust me. Please?" Usui looked at her with puppy-dog eyes.

"Why won't you tell me?"

"Because."

"Then no."

"It's because you'll call me a pervert again."

"Oh, in that case, go ahead."

"Really?" Usui's eyes lit up.

"No, baka Usui!" Misaki said scornfully. "Why would I let you do something perverted to me, especially when you told me you were going to do it?"

"Because I _did_ tell you first rather than just doing it," Usui said seriously.

He had a point; Misaki did have to give him that. "… So all I have to do is hold still?"

"Yep."

Misaki pursed her lips, thinking. Usui started fidgeting in impatience.

"This better not be too perverted…" she said, glaring.

"Trust me, Prez. Okay?" Usui could barely hide his enthusiasm.

"…"

Usui took her tensing up and screwing her eyes shut as a yes. He pressed the button that called the flight attendant, then leaned forward and pressed his lips against Misaki's neck. Misaki jumped violently and started to pull away, but Usui put a hand on her arm and murmured into her neck, "Just trust me, please, Misa-chan." Then he resumed kissing her neck. Misaki took a deep breath and bore with the awkwardness of the situation.

"Usui-sa…" the smiling flight attendant trailed off as she took in the scene. She had come immediately in response to Usui's call and her smile faltered for the first time. Misaki watched her watching Usui. The malice was obvious on her face. She caught Misaki's eye and a killing aura surrounded her. Without a single word, she marched back to the front of the jet.

Misaki just watched her walk away until she felt a sudden pain in her neck.

"Ow! What are you doing, you perverted… _leech_!" she said, shoving him off her neck.

Usui smiled at her in a very self-satisfied way. "Well, I think that will keep her from bothering you now. Don't you think?"

"Uh, no, baka Usui! That just made her even madder at me!" Misaki yelled. "And how did you even know?" she asked a little more quietly.

"I know _everything_ about my personal little maid," he said.

"Hmph," was all Misaki said and rubbed her neck.

"And if you think that it didn't work," Usui continued, "do you think we should try going further?"

"WHAT?!"

Usui leaned in to kiss her, but Misaki was prepared this time. He didn't have the element of surprise, nor was she blindfolded. She clapped a hand over his mouth. She could feel his mouth stretch into a grin under her hand.

"Ow! You bit me!" Misaki jerked her hand away from his mouth and looked at the teeth marks.

Usui looked at her innocently. "What, _me_, Prez?"

"Yes, you, you perverted outer space alien." She stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm getting a different seat." She started heading out into the aisle.

Suddenly the jet rocked violently and Misaki was knocked off balance and tumbled into Usui's lap.

He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her possessively. "If you wanted to sit on my lap, Prez, all you had to do was ask."

"Let go of me, baka—"

"Nope. You're mine for the rest of the flight." Usui was definite. He was not going to let go.

"Baka—"

"I don't care what you call me, I'm not letting go."

Misaki slowly stopped struggling. It was useless trying to get out of his grasp. She crossed her arms and refused to relax. This was going to be a _long_ trip.

Usui chuckled again. He decided against kissing the place on her neck where he had injured her. It was discoloring rather quickly. She would freak out on him soon enough when she saw the bruise. It was best now just to hold her. They had a few hours left to go. She'd relax soon enough. Besides, it was a private jet, with only the two of them on board. Where else was she going to go?

I know Misaki is somewhat out of character in this chapter, but she never has dealt with a girl who is strong like her, so I'm not sure how she'd react if that girl didn't like her. Has she even met a girl who didn't like her? I didn't expect the flight attendant to be so prominent in this chapter, but she practically took over, didn't she? Oh well, it was the first time I got to use somewhat foul language in fanfiction, so it was very exciting. Anyway, please review! I hope you liked it. I don't know how long it will be until the next chapter. Probably it'll be a while… I've rediscovered drawing and coloring, which also takes up my time.


	3. Shopping!

Tada! It's chapter 3! This chapter wasn't even supposed to be in here. The next chapter wasn't going to be in it either, but what do you know? I had been thinking about what should happen in this chapter, but then Usui said something and then the plot line just sort of went from there… Anyway, please read and enjoy. 

NOTE: BOLD FONT MEANS THE LINES WERE SPOKEN IN ENGLISH.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kaichou wa Maid-sama, blah blah blah…**

**Chapter 3**

Misaki woke up to see nothingness. '_Again? I'm blindfolded again. Really?_' Shaking her head, trying to wake up more, she noticed that the whirring of the plane was gone, but she was definitely in some vehicle of some kind. However, she didn't hear anything. "Usui?"

"Are you finally awake, Prez?" Usui wasn't next to her like she expected, but somewhere in front of her.

"What do you mean 'finally'? How long have I been asleep?"

"About ten hours. People thought I drugged you when I took you into the taxi." He chuckled to himself.

"Ten _hours_? How is that possible?" Misaki was extremely alarmed by this. She couldn't even remember the last time she had slept that long.

"Well, Prez, you were jet-lagged. There's also the fact that you over-work yourself every single day and never get enough sleep."

Misaki had no reply. How could she reply when she knew he was right?

"You also haven't been eating enough."

Misaki blinked in surprise, not that Usui could see it. "H-how did you know?"

Usui chuckled. "I had to carry you into the taxi. You happen to be much lighter than the last time I lifted you."

"Then maybe you should stop carrying me all the time," Misaki grumbled.

"But it's fun…" Usui whined.

"Hmph."

"But speaking of you not eating enough, we're going to a restaurant tonight, so we have to go shopping," Usui said.

"Why do we have to go shopping to go to a restaurant?" Misaki asked. "We can't be going anywhere that fancy."

"Did you bring any clothes with you?"

"No…" Misaki said slowly. "But that's because you kidnapped me!"

"Exactly." Misaki was getting good at reading his voice. He was smirking at her in a self-confident way. "So we need to go shopping so you actually have some clothes for tomorrow. And you never know…" Misaki heard his face switch to a contemplative smirk. "We might see some fancy clothes that we could wear to a fancy restaurant."

Misaki scowled. Usui was up to something again. The car stopped moving as Misaki thought.

"C'mon, Prez. We're here.

"And where is 'here' exactly? I kind of can't see anything!" Misaki said angrily, motioning to her blindfold.

Usui chuckled. "Oh yeah. I forgot." Misaki felt Usui's hands messing with the tie in the back of her head yet again. However, this time when the blindfold slid from her eyes, she stared into Usui's eyes, which meant that his face was much too close to hers. Without moving back at all, he smiled brilliantly at her. "Feel better now, Prez?"

Misaki tried to disguise her blush as anger. "Um, no, because I still have no idea where we are!"

Usui laughed and leaned in to kiss her forehead. Misaki flinched as his lips connected. "Why don't you try looking out the window, Prez," he said, while ignoring the twinge of pain he felt when she had flinched.

Misaki followed his instructions and looked outside. After one look, her seatbelt was off and she was out of the taxi in the bright sunlight.

They had stopped at a pier, and were looking out at the blue of the ocean. "You said we were in America, right?" Misaki asked as Usui climbed out of the car too.

"Yup."

"Then…" Misaki pointed across the water at a large red bridge. "Are we in California?"

"Yup!" Usui smiled and joined her at the edge of the pier.

"Wow…" Misaki breathed.

Usui watched fondly her for several seconds, and then wrapped an arm around her waist. He hauled her away from the view and carried her under his arm like a basketball. Or at least, that's what he attempted to do as Misaki struggled yet again to get out of his grasp. Before too long, he flipped her so he was holding her princess-style yet again.

"I was right. You seriously have lost weight."

Misaki protested but Usui cut her off before she could really begin.

"I already said that we're going to a restaurant tonight, Prez. That means that we have to go shopping. Besides, you are starting to get loud again," he warned.

Misaki promptly cut off her next remark and pursed her lips into a tight line. She glared at her captor, who simply smiled back.

* * *

As they walked into shop after shop, Usui was getting considerably more frustrated. Although he had already assured Misaki that he could pay for absolutely anything that she wanted, she was still looking for the cheapest of bargains. Finally Misaki saw a Goodwill store and started heading there. Usui followed, hoping that she'd settle on something eventually.

As Misaki happily settled into looking through the racks of women's clothing, Usui headed to the men's section, keeping an eye on Misaki. She was smiling to herself as she looked at the prices. Usui rolled his eyes lightheartedly. She really ought to learn that she can be spoiled every once in a while. He went past the dressing rooms on the way to the men's section. (It was a _big_ store.) There, on the reject pile of clothes that someone had tried on, was a pair of pants. Upon further inspection, he saw that they were a pair of female's leather pants. He smirked to himself as he thought about a certain maid that he would really like to see in leather pants. An interesting idea came to him that he'd have to try when they got back to Japan.

By the time he had decided what clothes he would buy, (because Misaki had not let him buy anything from the other stores either) Misaki was sorting through a load of clothes that she had tried on. She had spread out her selection on a table.

"Did everything fit?" he asked as he looked at the clothes. As always, it was nothing too showy or revealing. Everything was either relaxed or more business-like. Her pants were the same. All were very comfortable jeans. The girliest thing that Misaki had chosen was a light blue blouse that had gentle ruffles along its V-neck collar.

"Yes," Misaki said, thinking, "but now I have to figure out which two I need."

Usui stooped down and scooped up everything off of the table.

"Hey, what—"

"If everything fit, why not just get all of it?" Usui called over his shoulder as he headed to the checkout area. Misaki followed him, but he pretended he was deaf as the clerk rang up their clothes.

The clerk watched knowingly as Misaki ranted at Usui about wasting money and Usui quietly hummed to himself. Although she didn't know what Misaki was saying, she had seen young couples like this before. She smiled as she handed Usui the bags. **"You two take care now, all right?"**

"**Thank you,"** they both replied perfectly.

As soon as they walked out the door, Misaki began ranting again. The clerk watched through the window as Usui quickly pecked Misaki on the lips; thoroughly ending her speech and making her turn red. The clerk chuckled and turned to help her next customer.

"Where are we going now, baka Usui?" Misaki complained as they hiked up yet another street.

"You made me walk all over to go shopping, so now it's my turn," Usui said mischievously.

* * *

They walked up and down the ridiculously steep streets until finally Usui saw a store that he had been looking for. Misaki took one look at the display window and balked.

"No way."

"Yes way."

"It's not going to happen. There is no possible way that you are getting me to go in there."

Usui scooped her up, as was the custom in these situations. "I kidnapped you, remember? You have to go in. The victim will not decide where we're going."

"I don't care if I'm the victim, you are not getting me into that—" Misaki stopped as she realized that Usui had already carried her into the dress shop.

A meticulously dressed man stepped forward. **"May I be of any assistance, young sir and young lady?"**

"**Yes, thank you,"** Usui replied. His next words came so rapidly that Misaki could not catch them all. **"The lady would have a dinner gown and I would have a suit that matches it. We need it for tonight, so we would like to see what has been made already rather than be fitted for clothes. They also need to be clothes in which we can dance."**

"**Of course, sir."** The man bowed. **"If you would please follow me?"**

He led the couple to the back rooms. The lush red carpet covered the entirety of the floor and matched beautifully with the pale salmon walls. In the very center of the room was a small but very high stage with a set of stairs on either side. In the middle of the stage was a single chair. There were three full-length mirrors on the sides so one could see oneself from all angles. All around the walls of the back room were hundreds of mannequins all wearing beautiful dresses.

Once again, Misaki was left confused as the English flowed passed her. **"You may choose any of the dresses here. Each has a match that can easily be adjusted to fit. Both of you have frames where the outfits may be easily changed. Please choose any outfit you like. I will send in a woman to help the young lady dress when you wish to try on a garment."**

The man bowed again, and with a swish of his suit coat, he left.

"Um… Usui? Did you catch what he said?" Misaki tugged on his shirtsleeve with a perplexed look on her face.

"He said that he was sending in a woman to help you dress."

"Oh…" Misaki turned around and looked at all of the dresses, arranged all the way around the wall based on dress size and then color. She sighed. This was going to take a while. Misaki could tell that Usui wasn't going to let her out of this store without a dress.

"Well, Prez? Where do we start?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"I mean," Usui said leaning in close to her face, "what are your sizes?"

Misaki gasped. "Pervert!" she said as she whacked him hard on the arm.

Before she could hit Usui again, a woman carrying a very large binder walked into the room. She curtseyed and said, **"Excuse me, young lady. I'm here to help you dress."**

She spoke slowly and clearly so Misaki was able to easily understand her.

"**Yes, thank you,"** Misaki said. **"What is…?"** she trailed off, pointing at the binder in the woman's hands.

"**This is a compilation of all of the dresses we have here." **The woman smiled at Misaki. **"Would you care to take a look?"**

Misaki visibly relaxed. It was always nicer being around women. **"Yes, I would." **She walked over to the woman and began looking through the binder's contents. She was only on the third page when she felt a presence behind her. She turned and saw Usui looking over her shoulder. "Baka Usui, go away!"

"But Prez…" he whined, looking at her with puppy dog eyes.

Misaki promptly shut her eyes, refusing to be influenced. "Nope. Get out."

Usui smiled and kissed her cheek. "Okay, Prez," he murmured into her ear. "Have fun."

Misaki's eyes snapped open and she whirled around to watch Usui saunter out the door and close it just in time to avoid being hit with the pen Misaki launched at him.

"Baka Usui," she said, rubbing her cheek. "Kissing me, and in front of other people too… baka," she muttered to herself. She turned back to the woman. "So which one were we—oh. **Sorry. Which one were we looking at?"**

The woman smiled at her. "My husband is Japanese. Would it make it easier on you if I spoke Japanese as well? I'm not completely fluent, but I've usually been able to manage."

Misaki smiled back. "With my English and your Japanese, we should be fine."

Together, they reopened the binder. "Now let's find something to make you look incredible…" said the woman.

* * *

"I think he must really care about you."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I think—is that too tight, dear?" The woman ceased tugging at the corset of the dress that Misaki was trying on.

"No, it's fine. I can still breathe," she laughed.

"Well, I guess we need to fix that." The woman resumed tightening the corset, and then recollected her thoughts. "From what you've told me, he seems to be protecting you even when he's teasing you. The only time he betrayed you at all was the festival where he was just trying to teach you a lesson. And now look. Because he thinks that you're overworking yourself, he's kidnapped you. And by 'kidnapping' he just means that he wants you to take a break."

"Hmm…" It was interesting for Misaki to hear a stranger's point of view. Everyone else knew Usui, but this woman didn't. There was no bias.

"I think he also just really likes to tease you," the woman giggled.

"What?" Misaki gasped, blushing.

"You happen to react more than most girls would. Like when he kissed your cheek just a bit ago, you blushed and threw a pen at him! He's… well, I wouldn't say obsessed… but **enamored **with you."

"**Enamored**?" Misaki repeated. "What does that mean?"

"It means…" the woman trailed off as she focused on tying up the last of the ribbons. She finished with a flourish and then stepped back to eye her handiwork. "There! Lovely! Oh yes, enamored means something along the lines of really, really liking someone. Smitten! He's smitten with you!"

"Smitten? Isn't that a bit much?" Misaki asked, incredulous.

"I don't think so, but only time will tell." The woman giggled again. Misaki was being reminded more and more of her manager. "Now let's get you up on the stage there so we can decide what to do with your hair. I was thinking some type of up-do. What do you think?"

"I—I don't really know," Misaki stumbled over her words. "I don't really know much about, well, any of this," she said waving her arms all around her.

They reached the top of the stairs and Misaki sat down in the chair. The woman began playing with Misaki's hair with an entire toolbox full of combs, brushes, and a whole assortment of hair accessories, when Misaki saw something oddly colored on her neck that seemed to be the same color as her dress. She stood and walked closer to the mirror to examine the left side of her neck. Upon further examination, she let out an ear-piercing scream.

The door that led to the back room opened with a bang and Usui burst in, alarm making his eyes wild. Misaki saw his entrance in the mirror and spun around to face him.

"You!" she shrieked. "This is all your fault!"

Usui didn't say anything, but just stared at her. "Misa-chan… you look… wow," he said, breathless.

She really did look "wow." She was wearing a deep purple evening gown that had a petticoat layer that made it poof slightly at the skirt. The embroidery around the heart-shaped bodice was copper-colored swirls that went all the way around the top. Her sleeves were just loops of fabric that were there simply for effect and they left her shoulders bare. The copper embroidery was also placed around her hips, where the skirt began and the bodice ended, giving her an elegant belt. From the waist down the front of the skirt, the copper continued in a straight line and then spread out all the way around the hem of the skirt.

Misaki blushed at first but quickly remembered her anger. "Don't compliment me when I'm yelling at you, perverted outer space alien! This is all your fault!"

"What's my fault?" Usui smiled. A lot of things could easily be his fault.

"This!" Misaki gathered her hair on the right side and pointed at the left side of her neck. "_This_ is your fault! This—this…"

"Hickey?" Usui supplied helpfully.

Misaki let out a scream of frustration. She grabbed the folding chair on which she had been sitting and threw it at him as hard as she could. He dodged skillfully. "You perverted outer space baka alien!" She looked around for something else to throw. The woman held out a brush from the hair kit. Misaki grabbed it and threw that at Usui too. The woman kept handing things to Misaki, who kept chucking them at Usui, who was being kept busy dodging them all.

"You put this stupid thing on my neck and now it's stuck there. My neck is bruised because you were being stupid, baka alien!"

"Prez, calm down. It'll go away in a few days."

"Days!? That happens to be a very long time!"

"Not really, Prez." Usui ducked as a comb flew over his head. The objects were coming faster and being thrown harder.

Misaki reached for the next object. It was a pack of hair bands. She smiled evilly and grabbed one. Taking careful aim, she began to shoot them at Usui. Instead of continuing to duck and dodge, Usui ignored the stings of pain that continuously pelted him and walked determinately up the stairs. Misaki's eyes grew wider as he walked closer. She shot the hair bands harder and faster while slowly backing up on the stage. She shot the last one straight between his eyes, but without a single flinch, he caught it.

"You missed, Misa-chan," he said softly.

Misaki took another step back, but her foot caught on the train of her skirt. She tumbled off the edge of the stage.

Misaki couldn't breathe. She opened her eyes and saw the floor below her and realized that she wasn't falling anymore. But still, she couldn't breathe. Her middle was being constricted unmercifully.

An arm snaked around her waist and she felt herself being hauled back up onto the stage. Feeling firm ground underneath her, she collapsed but still wasn't getting any air into her lungs. Realizing what was wrong, the woman knelt down beside her and quickly loosened the corset. Misaki breathed in deeply, then sank down and lied on the ground, gasping heavily.

Usui stood imposingly in front of Misaki. He glared at her. Misaki cringed away from his eyes. Finally, Usui wearily sat down on the ground, crossed his legs, and hid his face in his right hand. "You really like to worry me, don't you?"

"Sorry," she said meekly. The woman who was sitting on the other side of Misaki quickly stood and climbed down the stairs to pick up all the things that had been thrown. However, her curiosity led her to stay as close to the stage as she possibly could.

Usui kept his face in his hand, but his shoulders started shaking. Before long, his entire body was shaking. Misaki sat up, concerned. "Usui, are you… cryin—"

Usui tipped his head back, a huge smile on his face. A laugh erupted out of him. Misaki quickly recoiled her hand that she had reached out to try to comfort him.

"To think," he said, still laughing, "that a dress, much less the _corset_ of a dress, was the reason I was able to catch you from falling off the stage."

"I don't think it's that funny," Misaki grumbled. "Plus I couldn't breathe after that!"

"Still… very ironic." Usui had finished his actual laughter, but his smile was still there and he kept shaking his head in amazement. "Besides, Misa-chan, when you wear a corset, you aren't supposed to be able to breathe. That's the whole point."

"No!" Misaki stood up in order to look down at him. "The whole point of the corset is to make one look skinnier and so try and look more beautiful."

"Exactly." Usui stood too. The height difference made Misaki mad. She'd never actually be taller than him, and it always gave him an advantage. "And the only way one would know if it was on correctly is if one couldn't breathe."

He put his hands on her waist. "And I think you may now want to adjust your corset before your entire dress falls off. Unless that was your plan from the beginning?"

"What! You—pervert—why would you think—what!" Misaki spluttered. She started to push him back, but Usui refused to be moved.

"You ought to have a hold on your dress first, Misa-chan," he smiled. "I'm all that's keeping it up right now. See?" He proceeded to slide his hands up her waist and the dress slid up too. As he started to move it back down, Misaki gripped the top of her bodice with one hand and slapped Usui's hands away with the other.

"Perverted outer space alien!"

Usui just smirked at her. "I like that dress on you, Prez. It makes you look… unbelievably amazing."

Misaki blushed despite her very best efforts not to. Usui strolled across the room and to the door, but just before he closed it, he winked at Misaki.

"See?" The woman had come back up the stairs with her collection of hair implements and the chair.

"See what?" asked Misaki irritably.

"He cares about you." The woman set the chair up how it had been before. "Now, let's fix your corset, and then we'll see about your hair again. Don't worry. I'll find a way to hide your love mark."

"All right." Misaki turned so her back was to the woman, who once again began pulling at the ribbons of the torture device that was supposed to make women beautiful. "Wait, did you say '_love mark'_?"

The woman giggled again. "Would you rather me call it a hickey?"

"No…"

"Then don't worry about it. Now, hold still, dear. We'll make it so tight that that boy won't even be able to get a pinky finger between the ribbon and the dress."

* * *

What did you think? I've always liked ball gowns and evening gowns and just pretty girly stuff like that. It makes me happy. I'm sorry the description sucked though. That's one thing that I just can't do. I looked through probably hundreds of dresses for inspiration, but I kept coming back to the dress that my sister wore to her prom. And then, after I got the inspiration, my description ended up changing how I wanted the dress. I wish I could show you all the picture in my head. It's really pretty. 

For those you who have helped with corsets before know that it takes a lot of work to put those things on. It isn't fun, but you do look really pretty afterward.

Regarding the things that Misaki was throwing, I actually changed parts so she could have more ammunition to throw at him. Heehee.

Oh, and I didn't have a specific dress shop in mind, so if you've been to California, don't assume you've been there or something, because I made it up. Just picture an incredibly fancy-schmancy dress shop like ones with marble statues and fountains.

Anyway, I hope you liked it! If you actually are reading this bit here, I'm assuming you did, so PLEASE review. They really make my day when people comment saying what they liked or what they didn't like so I can be aware of it.

I have also made an agreement with myself that I WILL respond to all of the reviews I've gotten so far on all of my stories. I love it when authors respond to my reviews so I plan to do the same for you guys too.

How out of character do you think our lovely couple was this time? I'm not really sure. I just know that I had Usui kissing Misaki a lot. So cute… I love those two…


	4. Dinner

Well, I'm back! I've brought chapter 4 with me! You know how I said in the last chapter that this one was not originally intended to be in here? Well, it wasn't. This chapter was also supposed to be combined with the chapter after this, but I decided that that would be too much for one chapter. So instead, here's just the one, and you may now enjoy it! Please review, too!

Oh, and by the way, please excuse the awful descriptions. I really hate writing them so I don't try very hard. Imagine what you want for it.

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kaichou wa Maid-sama no matter how much I wish I had thought of these phenomenal characters.**

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* * *

  
**

**Chapter Four**

"A limousine? We're in a _limousine?_"

"Why do you keep saying things like you don't believe them?" Usui watched her carefully from the seat facing her.

"Because I don't believe them," Misaki grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest. "Honestly, I don't believe any of this."

"Any of what?" Usui cocked his head to one side.

"This whole kidnapping thing! You take me away from school, work, family, and even Japan! Then you bring me here to the United States just so you can take me to dinner? It doesn't make any sense at all!"

Usui looked at her with a far-away look in his eyes. "You're right… it doesn't…"

Misaki furrowed her eyebrows, "Then why did you do it?"

"Because it's fun." He smiled at her, but the far-away look didn't disappear.

"Hmph." Misaki looked out the window. "At least I'm not blindfolded this time…"

Just then, the limousine slowed to a smooth stop. They had arrived. The door to Misaki's right opened and Usui stepped out. Instead of walking forward and into the building, he instead held out his hand to help Misaki out of the vehicle. Feeling a little awkward, she took it.

The building was incredible. Besides being simply massive, its architecture was impeccable with columns and arches and gargoyles and beautiful black and white marble. It was nothing short of a palace. Usui broke into her wonderment by placing her hand on his arm so he could properly escort her into the building. Climbing up the stairs, it was all Misaki could do not to gawk and stare at all of the statues and fountains as well as the people who were there dressed in their finery.

They entered the building, (there were more people who opened the doors for them with a bow) and once again, Misaki caught her breath at the beauty of the place.

The floor was covered in large black and white checkered tiles with ornate golden designs inlaid on them. The tables had deep crimson tablecloths on them and the dinner places gleamed and sparkled. The domed ceiling was painted to depict a romantic sunset. In the very middle of the ceiling was an enormous chandelier with real candles burning.

A waiter came up to Usui and the amazed Misaki. **"May I escort you to your seats, my lord and lady?"**

** "Yes, thank you," **Usui answered.

The waiter began wound around the tables and led the couple to a secluded area behind a curtain. It immediately had a much more intimate feel. There were candles at each of the tables and no other form of lighting. The tables were for couples only and each table was separated from the others by a thin wall. The dim lighting set a very romantic mood for those who were willing to be swayed by it. The waiter led them to one of the tables that was the furthest in the back.

** "I will be right back with your menus for tonight."** He bowed and turned on his heel and was gone.

Misaki fidgeted in her seat. She glanced at Usui. He was studying her with a half-smile on his face. She glowered at the table and continued fidgeting. She glanced at him again. He was still watching her.

"What?" she hissed quietly.

"You're squirming."

"That's because you're watching me!"

"Oh?" Usui raised an eyebrow at her. "And that makes you squirm?"

"Yes," Misaki said. She lifted her chin defiantly. "I do not enjoy being scrutinized."

"Are you sure that's the only reason?"

Misaki lowered her chin. "Yes," she said sulkily.

She looked at the gleaming dishes and could feel Usui's eyes boring into her.

"… it's embarrassing."

"What is?"

"This whole…" Misaki waved her hand in the air uselessly and looked at Usui. "…thing! I still don't believe it, yet here I am. I don't belong here. This isn't me at all. All of this is for the fabulously wealthy, not for a maid." She returned her gaze to the table.

"Pfft…"

Misaki's head shot up. Usui had a hand over his face, successfully hiding it from view, but his shoulders were shaking silently. He was laughing at her!

"What's so funny?" she snapped at him.

"You are, Prez. Do you really think that you don't belong here? You fit in perfectly. You're just not used to it. As for being a maid, well, she can go wherever her master bids her, can she not?" He smirked at her triumphantly.

She glared at him. However, she had nothing to say to that. The staring match continued until their waiter returned with glasses of iced water for them.

"**My lord and lady, I have returned with your menus for tonight. We do have a special, which I highly recommend. It is the **_**Annagassan Blue Lobster. **__**It is especially delicious with the butter sauce that was formulated in our very kitchen and has been part of the recipe ever since. If there is anything else you need, please do not hesitate to ask. Thank you, my lord and lady."**__ Once again, the waiter bowed and disappeared._

_"Umm… Usui?"_

_He peered at her from over the top of his menu. "Yes?"_

_"Everything is in English…"_

_"Yes…?" His trailing off indicated to Misaki his unspoken 'and your point is?'_

_She reddened. "I don't know what it says…" she said so quietly he could barely hear her._

_His smile was hidden by the menu in front of his face. "So what do you want me to do about it?"_

_Misaki scowled at him. He was going to drag this out as long as he could. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Will you please translate it for me?" She then hid behind her own menu._

_"…"_

_Misaki slowly lowered her menu so she could see Usui. He had his elbows on the table and his chin was placed on interwoven fingers. He was smirking at her again. _

_"… what?" Misaki asked him for the third time._

_"I just think it's nice that Misa-chan has finally asked her master for something, although she didn't ask very well."_

_"What do you mean? I asked you politely. I even said please!" Misaki pinched the bridge of her nose with her right hand in despair. Usui was getting way too much out of this. Misaki tried again. "Will you please translate the menu for me…" Misaki's left eye twitched. "…Master?"_

_Usui's smile grew. "No, I don't think I will."_

"Why _not?_"

"Because if I told you what everything was, you wouldn't order anything."

"What do you mean?"

"You're stingy, Ayuzawa. You don't like to spend money unless you have to and there's no way you'd let me order unless it were the cheapest thing on the menu."

Again, Misaki couldn't say anything. He was right. Anything at this restaurant was sure to be incredibly expensive and she would for sure get the cheapest item on the menu, no matter how disgusting it was.

"So…" Usui reopened his menu. "is there any food that you particularly dislike? Besides pineapple, I mean." He looked up in time to see Misaki's face burn before it was hidden by her own menu.

"Not really," was the slow reply.

"Do you mind if I order for you then?"

Misaki folded her menu and put it down. "Why?"

"It's a surprise." Misaki couldn't see his face for the menu, but she could hear his self-assuredness.

"Why does everything always have to be a surprise?" she muttered incoherently.

"Because it's more fun this way." Remarkably, Usui had somehow heard her. Before Misaki could think of a reply, Usui had held up his hand to call the waiter over.

"**Are you prepared to order, my lord and lady?"** the waiter asked politely.

"**Yes, thank you." **That was all Misaki could understand before Usui began speaking a flurry of English and French words off the menu.

The waiter bowed again and departed. "What did you order?"

"Surprise," Usui said in a singsong voice.

Misaki rolled her eyes. The waiter returned with a basket of freshly baked bread and a small jar of olive oil. Misaki's eyes widened.

"This is what you ordered?" she whispered, astounded, as soon as the waiter was out of earshot.

Usui didn't even bother to hide his face this time. He laughed at her, and laughed loudly.

Misaki blushed but she didn't understand why he was laughing.

Usui wiped tears of merriment. "Misa-chan, this is the appetizer. Here." He cut off a section of the bread with the special knife that had come with it. Putting a little bit of oil on one of the small plates, he handed her both the plate and the bread. "Dip it in the oil and eat it. It's good."

Cautiously, Misaki did as he said. After her first bite, the rest of the piece of bread was quickly gone. To her shame, that was the moment her stomach decided to growl loudly.

Usui laughed again, but more quietly this time, and cut a few more slices of bread. Between the two of them, the loaf quickly disappeared.

The moment the basket was empty, the waiter was back and had a second basket. As soon as he turned around, Misaki grabbed the knife and happily cut another slice. A hand caught the wrist that was holding the knife. "Misa-chan," Usui chided her, "if you eat too much now, you won't be able to finish your meal."

Misaki flushed. "I won't eat it all. Baka Usui."

Usui smiled at her. "Good. Now… what do you think of this weather?"

Misaki stopped mid-chew and looked at him quizzically. "Why do you want to know about the weather?" she asked after she swallowed.

Usui looked at her innocently. "It's called small talk, Misa-chan. You're always supposed to do that on dates."

Misaki choked on the bread she was eating. After chugging down some water she repeated "D-date? This is a date?"

Usui kept his innocent look. "What else would it be, Prez?"

Frantically, Misaki tried to think of a response. "I-I don't know. But, it-it's not a _date_!"

"Why not? I'm taking you to a fancy restaurant and night with just the two of us. Doesn't that make this a date?"

"No! It doesn't."

Usui pouted. "But this isn't even our first one."

"What do you mean it isn't our first date?"

"Ah ha!" Usui pointed a finger at her. "So you admit it _is _a date!"

"What, I—no! I never said that!" Misaki spluttered.

Usui pouted again and dejectedly cut another slice of bread.

Misaki looked around at the finery of the room awkwardly. Finally, she sighed, tired of the silence.

"So… how's the weather, baka Usui?"

He brightened immediately. "I like the weather right now, Misa-chan. It's warm enough that you can be outside without a jacket, but cold enough that you want someone there with you to keep you warm. Plus the moon is almost full, so you can see people's faces and reactions."

"I see," Misaki said shortly. She now had no menu to hide her blushing face.

Luckily for her, the waiter was back carrying two steaming plates. He set them down in front of the guests and excused himself.

Misaki's gaze switched from one of bemusement to one of astonishment. She glanced at Usui who was quietly gauging her reaction. She smiled at him and avidly began eating her moe moe omelet. The same type of omelet that she served customers every day at Maid Latte.

Usui blushed at her smile, and was glad that Misaki was too busy eating to notice. He was about to begin eating his as well, but Misaki stopped him. "There's nothing written on yours."

Usui glanced at her half eaten omelet. "Nor yours."

Misaki quietly took his and quickly wrote something on it, while Usui did the same to hers. They returned each other's plates. Usui read his and smiled. It said _Arigato._

Misaki gasped when she read hers. "Perverted outer space alien!" She quickly mangled what was written with her next forkful of omelet. However, what she had read was still stuck in her mind. It had said _My maid_.

* * *

.com/p/Movies/Animation/the_swan_princess_

.

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All right, this is a bit complicated. Since I so completely failed in describing the dress, I have offered dresses that together make the dress that Misaki is wearing. The first one is Odette from _The Swan Princess_ and from that one take the dress from the waist down. BUT NOT THOSE COLORS! It's really just that green ribbon thing that's important. Then in the second picture (I was so excited to find this one) is sort of what the embroidery is supposed to be like. However, take out all the extra embroidery that is not on the bust of the dress. It's way too much otherwise. Finally, the third picture is the correct shade of purple I wanted. That one's simple enough to understand. 

If you guys are still confused, (and I bet you still are) I'll get one of my artistic friends to draw it and then put it up on somewhere and then post a link to get there so you can see it.

It's almost frustrating to me how this story is not following my original plotline at all. They haven't even gotten to the main part of coming to California yet. The two of them have gone off on their own little tangent and I'm just along for the ride in order to write it all down. 

In case you didn't know, "Arigato" means "thank you." If you didn't know that by now though, you are woefully out of touch.

And I guess that I now know that this takes place after the date where Misaki and Usui are celebrating Misaki's birthday. Other than that, I'm not sure of the timeline.

PLEASE REVIEW!!! (long reviews are especially welcome, as is critique!)


	5. Duena

Wow… this is a really long chapter. I didn't mean for it to be this long, but I decided that I wasn't allowed to end the chapter until finally I got the story back on track. Oh, and I'm sorry that this is a little late. I had planned to finish it up on Friday after school, but I was in a car accident Friday morning, so I wasn't really able to do anything until today. I just had to get a few stitches on the left side of my face. Other than that, I'm fine. My sister suggested that I should get a Phantom of the Opera mask to wear to school tomorrow because only the left side of my face was affected at all. Anyway, please enjoy this really, really, really long chapter. Oh, and those of you who were reading carefully to what Usui said to the dress shop man should have known that this chapter was coming.

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**Chapter Five**

"Come on." Usui stood up from the table and offered his hand to help Misaki up. She didn't move.

"Where are we going?" she asked warily. "We haven't paid yet."

"This isn't just a restaurant, Prez. You pay for everything."

"And what exactly is 'everything'?"

"It's a surprise," Misaki answered with Usui. He smiled. "Exactly. So," he held his hand closer to Misaki, "come on."

Resigned, Misaki took his hand and then his arm as he led her out of the secluded dining area. He took them down another stately hallway to another large pair of double doors with attendants. Misaki was tired of all of the finery and would have been fine with just a normal wooden or screen door instead of the gilded doors with ornate carvings and sharply dressed assistants. Together, the door attendants opened the doors and let the couple through.

The first thing that Misaki noticed was all the people in two lines that led down the chamber to two sets of double doors. The line on the left was for the ladies; the line on the right was for the men. The next thing she noticed was that there was something… odd about each of the outfits that the women were wearing. One of them had a dress with square hips, while another had hips that rounded out like they were hiding beach balls under them. Another girl had a ridiculously large, light pink, floppy bow in her hair, which brought Misaki to notice the _hairstyles_ of all of the women. Each one had something striking and different in her hair. There were designs off all kinds; including what Misaki thought might have been a sailboat.

Suddenly Misaki lost her grip on Usui's arm. She caught his shirtsleeve as he tried to walk away. "Where do you think you're going?" she hissed at him, trying to not attract any attention.

"In line," Usui said.

"But—where—and—"

"Calm down, Prez. Just get into your line and you'll receive instructions. I promise." He smiled at Misaki, his eyes glowing with assurance and comfort.

"… all right," Misaki said meekly. She walked to the end of the female's line while Usui walked to his, chuckling silently to himself.

After a few minutes of standing with the rest of the women, finally something started happening. The entrance doors, which had been slightly ajar for a smoother opening when guests wished to pass through, were closed completely. Being at the end of the line, Misaki heard the door's lock click, securely sealing off any chance she had of escape. Immediately after the doors locked, the double doors at the head of the men's line opened. Suddenly silent, the men filed one by one through the doors into the unknown room beyond.

The men's door shut and a tension filled the room of the now hushed crowd of ladies.

Not a sound was made.

At the head of the female's line, a group of women suddenly straightened up, and a quiver of excitement was sent through the rest of the line, finally hitting Misaki. The doors ever so slowly opened and a golden light spilled out into the waiting chamber. Just as silently as the men, the female line began the trek into the mysterious world of the next room.

* * *

_*Click*_

Misaki shuddered at the sound. She had never been adverse to the sound of a door locking, in fact she was quite fond of it when she was locking up at Maid Latte, but this time the click had unnerved her. She was not going to be able to get out of this, no matter how uncomfortable she really was.

Tearing her eyes away from the immovable door, she returned her attention to the front of the line, where an older woman was standing on a raised platform with a small microphone in her hand and a large screen behind her.

"Welcome, ladies. It is so nice to see so many familiar faces as well as a few new faces here. Tonight we have a special treat for you after the usual entertainment. As some of you may know, the beginning interest piece we have for tonight is the screen. Your partners with whom you arrived are on the other side of this stage. You will simply come up on the stage and the each man will decide whether or not he will dance with you based solely on your silhouette and a picture that was taken of you while you stood in line in the waiting chamber."

A couple of gasps and much murmuring went through the crowd of ladies at the mention of the picture. Apparently, no one had been informed of this.

"**Do not be alarmed, ladies. Only the most pleasant and decent photos will be shown to the gentlemen,"** the middle-aged woman informed the group. **"Now, will you please step forward one by one and take a pose in front of the screen?"**

Murmuring and giggling broke out this time. It seemed that no one was willing to go first. Eventually, the girl with the sailboat hair sauntered up the stairs and stood on the stage.

"**I will go first,"** she announced grandly. Turning so her back was to the girls, she stood with one hand on her hip and the other hand about head height, palm up. The middle-aged woman who had been welcoming them walked off the stage and dimmed the lights. She flipped a switch on the wall and lights on the stage that pointed toward the sailboat girl illuminated her.

A silence filled the room yet again, but through the screen, one could hear the mutterings of the male partners. After about thirty seconds, the woman flipped the switch again, and the sailboat girl stepped off the platform. **"Quickly ladies, who will go next?"** she whispered as loudly as she could.

A giggling group of girls headed towards the stage. One in a lemon yellow gown was pushed forward. After shooting the rest of her group a joking glare, she stepped onto the stage and the spotlights were again lit. Another thirty seconds of silence on the girls' side and mutterings on the males'. She stepped down and another girl was pushed forward.

This happened again and again as the numbers of girls who hadn't gone up slowly dwindled down. Eventually there were only two girls left: Misaki and a girl in a flamboyantly orange dress. Before Misaki could even move, the orange girl practically leapt up onto the stage and struck a pose. Much too soon, she was off and Misaki was the only one left.

Heart pounding in her chest, she climbed the four stairs and walked to the center of the stage. Not knowing what to do, she awkwardly put her hands on her hips and squarely faced the screen. The lights came on behind her, and she could hear the mutters of the males even clearer now. Inexplicably, Misaki was suddenly reminded of Seika High School and how disrespectful those boys often were. Without realizing it, her demon aura began to build up. Before two more seconds had passed, the mutterings from the other side of the screen had stopped. Both sides watched the girl in the purple dress as her aura overpowered every other brain process they had. That is, everyone watched her except for one. That boy was looking down pointedly at his chart of girls. Trailing his finger down the list of "No"s, he finally reached "Girl #47, Do you wish to dance with her?" A small photo was next to her number. She was staring at the closed door with a determined look on her face in the photo. Chuckling to himself he circled "Yes."

* * *

"For heaven's sake, this is getting ridiculous," Misaki grumbled to herself as a mask was chosen for her. "I don't see the point of needing a mask when they have already seen our pictures as well as our gowns. It won't be that hard to figure out who is who."

A gasp was sounded next to her. It was the giggle group from before. The girl who had been pushed onto the stage first was the one who had gasped. Obviously, she understood Japanese, although her light brown ringlets were not dyed. She stared boldly at Misaki. **"You really are new, aren't you?"** she said arrogantly.

"**Yes, I am new. But that doesn't mean I can't question things, does it?"** Misaki snapped back. She was sick of the pompous attitude that seemed to seep from practically every girl in this third chamber that they were in.

"**Actually, it does."** The sailboat hair girl cut into their conversation. **"Because you are new here, you have no rights at all. This entire building is set based upon wealth and then upon seniority. It is actually possible to outrank someone here who is richer than you if you have been here for a longer amount of time. Your dress says that you are quite wealthy, but your face shows that you are new. You may not question how things are done here." **The girl blinked slowly at Misaki and gracefully walked away.

"**There, you see!"** the lemon-dress girl was speaking again. **"I told you!" **

"**You actually didn't tell me anything."** Misaki smiled at her, and the girl stepped back in fear.

"**You—you stay away from me,"** she commanded, and then fled to the other side of the room.

A hand touched Misaki's shoulder. **"Don't mind Cecilia. She's always been a bit on the egotistical side of things." **Misaki turned and that it was the girl with the very large bow in her hair. **"And that other girl, that's Iruera. She's been to every single one of these things every since she was old enough." **She held out her hand for Misaki to shake. **"Hi there, new girl. I'm Duena."**

Misaki took her hand.** "I'm Misaki."**

"**Misaki?" **Duena repeated. **"Wait, does that mean you're Japanese?"**

Misaki nodded.

Duena squealed with delight. **"I'm taking Japanese as my foreign language! This is so cool to actually meet a real, live, Japanese person!" **She pulled Misaki into a hug. The she stepped back, her face intent. **"Oh, my God, do you mind if I speak some random Japanese now and then as the night goes along just to see if you understand me?"**

Misaki laughed. **"No, I don't—"**

"**Wait, wait! Don't say anything in English! I want to see if I can actually understand you!" **Suddenly Duena gasped. **"I'm totally taking advantage of you, aren't I? I'm so sorry. I don't mean to be annoying, I really don't. I just start talking and then my talking turns into babbling and then I don't really know when to stop…" **She trailed off, looking apologetically at Misaki.

"I actually don't really mind," said Misaki. "It will be nice to be able to speak with someone in the language with which I am most comfortable again."

"Excellent!" Duena hugged her again. "This is going to be so much _fun!" _Quickly, she realized that she was still hugging Misaki. She quickly let go. **"Sorry. I'm kind of a hugging person."**

"**Ladies," **the woman was speaking again. **"If you all have found a mask that properly matches your dresses, then we will enter the ball room now."**

Duena gasped again and darted to the table. She quickly snatched up two masks and hurried back to Misaki. **"Here. Put this on. Quick!"**

Misaki pulled the elastic of the mask around her head and tugged at the mask to make sure it was secure. Now that her peripheral sight was completely gone, she turned to Duena, to see her looking back at Misaki. She smiled brightly. **"You ready for this, Misaki?"**

"**No…"**

Duena laughed. **"Don't be such a baby. It will be fun. Plus you get to meet a lot of cute, rich guys. That's always fun, isn't it?"**

'_Rich guys?' _Misaki thought to herself. _'I just hope that not all rich guys are like… what had Usui called him?' _Misaki tried to recall the name that Usui had given the Miyabigaoka school president. She skimmed her memories to when Usui burst through the door just as—_'Igarashi Tora. That's what that bastard's name was…' _pushed her down onto the table. The bastard asked about the guards and then… Usui's voice drifted into her mind. _'Hentai onii-san.' _Misaki smiled had to smile at that.

Duena watched Misaki's face as she was thinking. When Misaki smiled she exclaimed, **"See! Rich, cute guys! The thought of them can cheer up just about anybody!"**

Misaki just nodded in response. In front of them, the final set of double doors opened and the now masked ladies stepped into the ballroom.

* * *

"**May I please have this dance, young lady?" **A strapping young man bowed to Duena and Misaki, who were seated at one of the tables where tea was being served. He offered his hand to Duena, who giggled. She turned to Misaki.

"**You don't mind do you…?"**

Misaki waved her away with her hand. **"I don't mind. Go have fun." **Duena took the proffered hand and was immediately swept away by the young man onto the ballroom floor where other couples had gathered to waltz.

Misaki felt a sudden breeze in her ear. She jumped violently and jerked her head around to see who it was. An ornate black mask with silver engravings hid the upper half of his face from her, but he smile and bright green eyes gave him away.

"It's just you, Usui," Misaki said, slightly relieved. She rubbed her left ear, making her earring jangle. "I really wish you wouldn't do that though."

"What do you mean it's _just_ me, Prez? Am I not special anymore?" Usui's lips pouted at her.

Misaki reddened. "Who said that you were _ever_ special?"

"That's mean, Ayuzawa."

"…"

Misaki crossed her arms. She wasn't going to give into him this time.

"…"

The pout on his face wouldn't go away.

"…"

"All right, fine! I'm sorry! There, are you happy now?" Misaki glared at her table companion, who had brightened considerably. But as she watched, his face quickly returned to its former pout.

"No," Usui said sulkily.

"Why aren't you happy, Usui?" Misaki said, exasperated.

"Because Misa-chan said I wasn't special."

Misaki gritted her teeth. "And if I say that you are special, will you stop pouting?"

Usui nodded.

"Usui, I think that you're very special," Misaki forced out.

Usui leapt out of his chair. "Then to prove it," he bowed and held out his hand exactly as the young man had done to Duena, "may I have the honor of your first dance?" He smiled winningly at her.

Misaki's eyes widened in horror. She slowly shook her head and then got faster as he continued smiling. "Nonono, no, no. I'm not going to dance. No, Usui. No, I'm not going to dance with you. Besides, you've never seen me dance and I'm going to go make fool out of myself in front of all of those stuck-up—"

"**Misaki?"** Duena and her partner had returned. Usui straightened and then bowed to the couple. Duena's face lit up with delight again.** "Oh! You're going to dance now, Misaki? Well, don't let us stop you. Go! Go!"**

"**See, I told you she wouldn't mind," **Usui said in English for the benefit of Duena and her partner. "Now you have no excuses. Come on, Prez." Usui grabbed her hand and practically dragged her onto the dance floor.

Misaki trembled as Usui positioned himself so that they were in the proper waltzing position. "Are you nervous, Prez?" he asked gently.

"Yes," Misaki admitted quietly. "I have only waltzed once in my life, and I was only three at the time."

"Don't worry. I'll lead; you just follow." Usui smiled a completely innocent and calm smile at her, and she couldn't help but smile back.

"All right."

* * *

"**Hey, hey! Rupert, look at that!" **Duena said to her partner. They were occupying the seats where Misaki and Usui had previously been sitting and were watching the dancing couples. Again and again, her eyes had been drawn to her new Japanese friend and her partner. She was now pointing at them. Some couples had already stopped to watch them.

They were magnificent. Although, Misaki's face said that she wasn't exactly having fun, her movements with Usui seemed practiced and relaxed.

"**Don't you think they make a cute couple, Rupert?"**

The boy nodded.

Duena giggled. **"I think so too. Do you think they arrived together, or do you think it was a random meeting? Because you know, that's the whole point of these masks. It's really just for the girls' benefits. We don't for sure know who is who you guys are wearing them 'cause you all dress up about the same way. That's what makes these things so fun and mysterious, because it's really hard to pursue one guy when you don't know who exactly it is…" **Duena sighed happily.

* * *

At last the song ended. Misaki was bright red from exertion as well as from the fact that Usui had been teasing her the entire time they were dancing. He led her off the floor and back to their table. "That wasn't so bad, now was it?" Usui asked with a smirk.

"No, it wasn't _bad_. But that doesn't make it good!" Misaki said.

"Of course, Misa-chan," he said patronizingly.

"**Misa-chan?" **a voice repeated. It was Duena again, her eyes sparkling like fireworks. **"Oh, my God! Is he Japanese too?" **she asked, pointing at Usui.

Confused, Misaki nodded.

"**Oh. My. God. Misaki, come here, c'mere!" **Duena grabbed her hand and ran around the ballroom so there was the entire dance floor between them and their partners.

"Now, don't lie to me, Misaki. I know that calling someone by his or her first name or a nickname in Japan means something special. So… who is he? Is he your boyfriend? Conquest? Best friend that you like more than a friend? Or more disappointingly, just your best friend?"

Misaki sighed. **"He's **_**just**_** a friend, Duena. He's not even my best friend. He's the perverted outer space alien that kidnapped me and brought me here to California on a whim."**

"**He kidnapped you?" **Duena reiterated, awestruck. **"Wow… that is so… **_**cute! **_**And **_**sweet**_**. If he kidnapped you and brought you here to California, he must really like you. Aww… It's almost like you guys are eloping to get married or something. That is **_**so**_** adorable!"**

"**Why do people keep saying that he likes me?" **Misaki grumbled. **"First the lady in the dress shop and now you…"**

"**The lady in the dress shop? Which dress shop? Was it really super fancy? Was she kind of short? Did she say that she had a Japanese husband?" **Duena rapid-fired her questions at Misaki, who dumbly nodded.

"That's my Aunt Becca! She only recently got married and it's so embarrassing when Uncle Toshi, (that's what he told me to call him) talks to me in Japanese 'cause it's so hard to understand him 'cause he talks too fast. In fact he—"

But Misaki would never find out what about Duena's Uncle "Toshi" because at that moment. The middle-aged woman and a man who looked slightly older than her cleared their throats and called for the attention of the room.

"**Ladies and gentlemen,"** the man began, **"it is now time for you to dance with your assigned partners instead of the partners with whom you arrived."**

The woman continued his thought. **"If the ladies will please gather on the left side of the room and the gentlemen on the right side, we will have the gentlemen ask ladies with whom the did **_**not**_** arrive to dance. At this time, you are **_**not **_**permitted to dance with the person with whom you arrived."**

At this, some of the girls were giggling, but others such as Cecilia and the giggle group seemed upset at it. Reluctantly, the crowd parted and the seats against the two walls were filled by forty-seven girls on one side and forty-seven guys on the other. After everyone was settled, the middle-aged couple, asked the gentlemen to stand, which they did.

Duena gripped Misaki's right arm. **"Look, Misaki! There's Rupert and your boyfriend!" **she whispered.

"**He is **_**not**_** my boyfriend," **Misaki hissed back.

The gentlemen stepped forward and crossed the room to the patiently, and in some cases, impatiently waiting girls. A flock of young men instantly surrounded Iruera. Invitations were being sounded all around and then a young man was suddenly in front of Duena.

Misaki blinked at his sudden approach and then realized it was Usui. "May I have this dance, Duena-chan?" he asked, bowing just as he had earlier to Misaki.

Duena blushed and looked at Misaki. **"D-do you mind, Misaki? I mean, isn't this your—"**

"**He is **_**not**_** my boyfriend, Duena," **Misaki said again. **"And no, I don't mind. Wait!" **Suddenly, Misaki leapt up, and grabbed Usui by his ear and whispered, "If you do anything perverted to her, I'll—I'll… I don't know what I'll do, but you can bet that it will be bad!"

"Sure thing, _Misa-chan,_" he said, winking at her.

Misaki let go of his arm like it burned her, and quickly sat back down, ignoring her red face. **"Go dance, Duena. Have fun." **

"**Are-are you sure, Misaki?" **Duena had been watching their exchange with a face that was suspiciously like that of Satsuki-san. In fact, Misaki had a sneaking suspicion that if she and Usui had talked any more than they had, moe flowers would have started appearing.

"**Yes, I'm sure. Now GO!" **Misaki waved her hand at them, shooing them away.

"**Okay then…" **Duena took Usui's arm, but watched Misaki carefully as she walked away.

The orchestra began, and the young men who had quickly steeled up enough nerve to ask strangers to dance bowed while their partners curtsied, and the dance began.

* * *

"Hey."

Misaki looked up. In front of her was the boy that had previously asked Duena to dance. **"I-I'd rather not dance, thank you," **Misaki quickly said. **"Sorry."**

He flickered a smile. **"It's fine. I don't really feel like dancing either. Do you mind if I…" **he motioned to the chair next to her where Duena had been sitting.

"Oh, go ahead."

The boy sat down and offered his hand. **"I'm Rupert."**

"**I'm Misaki." **She took his hand and shook it. **"It's nice to meet you."**

"Likewise."

"…"

The two of them expressionlessly watched their partners dance a fast-paced waltz. As Usui spun Duena around, they could see her glowing face. Rupert shifted uncomfortably and put his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on his folded hands. His eyes didn't flicker from the waltzing couple.

Misaki's gaze switched from the people who were dancing to Rupert's intense staring. **"Hey, um… are you all right?" **She put her hand on his shoulder.

He jerked and looked at her with alarm. When he realized it was her, he gave a weak smile and said, **"Oh, yeah. I'm fine."**

"…" Misaki didn't know what to say to that. She had never been the comforting sort. Rupert seemingly subconsciously returned to his former position and watched the dance until the orchestra stopped playing. The couples bowed and curtsied, and then applauded the orchestra.

Usui and Duena left the dance floor and headed back to Misaki and Rupert.

"**Rupert!" **Duena reprimanded. **"Why didn't you invite Misaki to dance?"**

"**It's fine, Duena. I told him I didn't feel like dancing."**

"**Oh…"**

An awkward silence filled the space between the two couples. Usui was the only one who seemed completely unfazed by it.

Mercifully, the middle-aged couple began to speak again.

"**Now is the time when the ladies may ask any gentlemen to dance. Feel free to select a partner with whom you did not arrive. Remember, this is time to be social and expand your horizons," **said the woman.

"**And gentlemen, please do not put pressure on the ladies to ask you. And if you must decline, do so in the most polite of manners." **The man eyed all of the young men over his glasses. **"Ladies, you may begin at any time."**

Before Misaki could register what had happened, she, Duena, and Rupert had all been shoved aside by about thirty of the forty-five other girls attending the dance. They all eagerly asked Usui to dance all the while pushing each other to get closer to him. Even wearing the mask, his handsomeness and dancing skills were obvious and made him absolutely irresistible.

As their voices got louder and louder, so did their actions against each other. Worming past each other grew into jostling, which became pushing, and even led to two girls in the middle pulling each other's hair. Then from the very center of the group came a voice that said,

"No, I won't dance with any of you."

The girls stopped moving and slowly parted to let Usui exit the group and sit back down. Gradually, they all walked away to find new partners with whom they could dance, all the while sending crestfallen looks over their shoulders. That is, they all walked away but one girl in a lemon yellow dress.

"**Hi," **she said flirtatiously. **"I'm Cecilia. What's your name, handsome?"**

"**Usui."**

"**Usui, huh?" **She laughed. It was a high, delicate sound that probably sounded lovely, but at that moment, it grated against Misaki's ears.

"**Well, Usui, would you care to dance with me?"**

"**No."**

She laughed again. **"Please, Usui. I know you had to say that in order to get the other girls to go away, but surely you—"**

"**I don't feel like dancing." **His voice was completely flat.

"**She is making me so **_**mad,**_**" **Duena said. **"Seriously, she's practically **_**throwing **_**herself at him. And Misaki, why am I more upset than you are?" **She rounded on Misaki and pointed an accusatory finger at her. Before Misaki could say anything to defend herself, Duena pushed her toward Cecilia and Usui. **"Go defend your man, **baka**!"**

Misaki was rammed straight into the back of Usui's chair from Duena's push, which had been much stronger than she expected. "Ouch."

"Yes, _Misa-chan_?"

Cecilia glared at her. Obviously, she thought that Misaki was trying to butt into her chat with Usui.

"Um, I—nothing." Misaki quailed under the embarrassing situation that Duena had forced her into.

Usui smiled brightly at her. "Do you want me to dance with you, _Misa-chan_? Is that it?"

Misaki blinked. "I, well, um…"

"Of _course_ I'll dance with you, Misa-chan." Usui grabbed her hand and once again dragged her to the dance floor before she could get out one more word.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Misaki whispered as she curtsied at the start of the dance.

"Didn't you want to dance?" Usui asked her innocently as he returned her curtsy with a bow.

"No, I did not want to dance again!"

"Oh, really? Then why did you ask me to dance?" Usui took the first step and the waltz began.

"When did I ask you to dance?"

"Just now."

"No, I didn't!" Misaki insisted.

"But you were going to."

"Where did you get that idea?"

"You stopped me from talking to the girl in the yellow dress." Usui nodded towards Cecilia, who was still standing on the sidelines, glowering at them.

"But that wasn't my fault. Duena pushed me!" Misaki said defensively. "Besides it's not like you were going to dance with her anyway."

"Oh?"

"Usui, you already had rejected her three times."

"So you were eavesdropping."

"What—I – no!" Misaki turned slightly pink.

Usui laughed and spun her around. "Don't worry, Prez. I forgive you. Besides, I don't get to dance with my cute little maid very often, do I?"

"Don't call me that!"

"Why not?"

"One, because it's embarrassing. Two, if I didn't want people at school to find out, do you really think I want people _here_ to know? Especially since some of them act like the students at Miyabigaoka."

"But that doesn't stop it from being true," Usui replied.

"How is it all true?"

"Well, you _are_ a maid, so that's true. You happen to be smaller than I am," (here he pulled Misaki closer to his chest so that she had to tilt her head back to continue looking at him,) "which makes you little. You also happen to be undeniably cute," Usui continued, smirking at her, making Misaki flush. "And finally, you are definitely and only _mine._"

"What? Who told you that?" Misaki tried to break away from him, but Usui just turned it into another spin and refused to let go.

Instead of answering, Usui just smiled at her and continued to dance. Misaki glared at him in return.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is now time for the final dance."

The man continued where the woman left off. **"You have been randomly paired based on the silhouette polls. We would like the ladies to line up according to the order in which they went on the stage. When we call the gentleman's name that corresponds with the lady's number, would that gentleman please step forward? Now, please begin to line up, ladies."**

Finally Misaki was able to let go of Usui's hand and break free from his grip, which had not let go of her waist since their dance had ended. Misaki joined Duena in lining up, but she was somewhere towards the middle, while Misaki was dead last. The man started calling forward the guys one by one as each name was called. Misaki was surprised to hear the name **"Usui Takumi"** called so soon though. She looked up and realized that it was only the second girl to go up. Usui had been randomly matched with Cecilia! From the middle of the line, Duena turned and tried to give Misaki a sympathetic look, but Misaki's face was one of utmost confusion.

The names continued and the line slowly dwindled. Finally it was Misaki's turn. The name that was called was **"Audun" **something. Misaki didn't catch the last name.

The boy who was left stepped forward and gave her an elegant bow. **"It is a privilege and a pleasure to meet you, My Lady." **He stood up and Misaki was able to get a good look at him. He had shoulder length blonde hair that seemed to shimmer in the light. His eyes were incredibly blue and sparkling at her. His outfit was a white suit that just screamed that he was incredibly wealthy. However, Misaki had always been a fairly good judge of character. Audun's very preens said that he was a creeper and not to be trusted.

The middle-aged couple asked for all the partners to take their positions and then the final dance of the evening began.

Audun's hand was slimy and wet, and his grip around Misaki's waist was extremely tight. He smile was not one of gentlemanly conduct either. Misaki would have taken one of Usui's infuriation smirks over the leering grin that Audun was giving her.

As the dance continued, he didn't say a single word to her. He just grinned at her in that scary way and occasionally licked his lips. Misaki gulped nervously. When the dance ended, Audun refused to let go of her. He finally spoke. **"Now that that's over, would you like to go on an adventure with me? It'll be fun, I promise. It will just involve you losing that dress and I'll lose my jacket and then we'll have a little fun. What do you say? We can go to the garden, just the two of us."**

Misaki blinked in disbelief at his blatant disregard for the fact that she was a lady (or at least she was technically at the time) and deserved to be treated as one. **"No."**

Audun laughed in delight. **"I'm glad you agree, my little pet. And now we'll— wait. What did you say to me?"**

"**I said, no."**

Audun laughed again, but this time it was a tense controlled laugh. **"I'm not sure you completely understand, pet. I ask you to come and then you come. 'No' is not an acceptable answer. You don't say 'no' to me."**

Misaki smiled tersely at him. **"I believe I just did."**

"**All right, **_**pet**_**," **Audun spat at her. **'There went your last chance to be dealt with carefully. I'm not going to be gentle with you at all. Now **_**come on.**_**" **He tightened his hold on Misaki's waist and tried to forcibly lift her and drag her out of the ballroom. That was the final straw for Misaki. She took hold of the arm around her waist and flipped Audun over and pinned him to the ground so his stomach was on the floor and his arm was twisted behind him.

"**No, I don't think so," **Misaki growled at him. She felt another set of hands around her waist and she was lifted off of the boy on the ground and into the air. She didn't fight it too much, because she recognized the hands as Usui's.

"Calm down, Prez. I don't think he's going to do much to you now."

Misaki looked at the boy that she had pinned. He was staring up at her with pure terror in his eyes. "…fine." She waited for Usui to put her feet back onto the ground, but he just continued holding her in the air.

"Put me down!"

"Nope." Usui caught one hand under her legs so he was carrying Misaki princess-style as always. He turned to the middle-aged couple and bowed to them as neatly as he could without dumping the girl out of his arms. **"I'd like to thank you for your hospitality, but I do believe we really must be going." **Without another word, Usui turned on his heel and walked out of the ballroom with Misaki still in his arms and all of the other guests watching them leave.

* * *

"You—you—you—"

"Yes, Prez?" Usui smiled at her lazily. They were once again in a limo and he was sitting across from Misaki watching her face change colors.

"I don't even _know_ what to say to you right now!" Misaki huffed.

"You could start with 'thank you.'"

"What? Why should I thank you?"

Usui cocked his head at her. "You mean you didn't have fun on our date, Misa-chan?"

Misaki went a bit pink at the word "date," but she refused to let Usui mess with her head. "Well, it was sort of fun…" she admitted.

"Good." Usui switched sides of the limo so he was sitting on Misaki's left. He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close to his chest.

"Wha—what are you doing?" Misaki tried to push away from him.

Usui flicked her forehead. "Go to sleep, Ayuzawa," he admonished gently. "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. We're going to go hiking."

Misaki looked up at him with shining eyes. "Are we really?"

Usui smiled. "Yup. But only if you go to sleep."

"All right." Misaki turned her back to him and tried to lean her head against the frame of the car, but Usui grabbed her head from behind and pulled her to his chest.

"Nuh uh, Misa-chan. You have to sleep the way I tell you to sleep." He quickly bundled her up in his arms and put her on his lap. "Now, you can go to sleep."

"How do you expect me to fall asleep like this?" Misaki demanded.

"You have twice before now," Usui pointed out.

"What does that have to do with anything," Misaki grumbled. "Fine, I'll go to sleep, but you better not—"

"—do anything perverted to you. I know," Usui cut her off. "Now, _sleep._"

* * *

"Usui-sama."

Usui looked up from the girl quietly sleeping in his arms. "Yes?"

"We'll be at the dress shop momentarily. What would you like me to do?"

"We're only going to be a couple of minutes. We just need to change clothes."

"Yes, Usui-sama. And you said from there that you would like to go to the woods?"

"Yes."

"Is there anywhere in particular that you would like to go?"

"Just somewhere where it's easy to lose track of one's self."

"Yes, Usui-sama."

* * *

Tada! Chapter Five is now complete and the whole point of the story is now back on track. Isn't that exciting? I have some interesting points now for those of you who care. It's all about the name choices in here. You may have noticed that some of the names are a little weird. Well, that's because I went onto a baby names website and found out the meanings of them. I could be mean and let you look them up yourself, but honestly, how many of you would actually do it? I'm assuming not many. 

First off, Cecilia and Rupert are just names that I like, so I decided to put them in there.

**Cecilia:** Blindness (I think it works because she's blind to how shallow she is, or something deep like that. I don't know. I just like that name.)

**Rupert: **Bright fame. I have no idea how this relates. I guess Rupert is a celebrity and I just didn't realize it. After all, it _is_ a ball for the very wealthy.

**Duena: **Protect the Companion. This shouldn't need explanation.

**Iruera: **Wealth Protector. Again, she doesn't really need an explanation.

**Audun: **Wealthy friend. I was looking for something that meant creeper or stalker, but this was the worst I could find. However, that is understandable because what parent in his or her right mind would name his or her kid "Creeper". Not many, I take it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. Now please review because I know I've kept you waiting a lllloooonnnnggg time for this. Oh, and I think I scared some people off from reviewing when I said that I like long reviews. That doesn't mean that I don't like short reviews too!


	6. Hiking

_Hey, everybody... it's been a while hasn't it? I'll do my best for there not to be quite as big of a gap between chapters again. I'm really sorry... My head wounds are healing though, aren't you relieved? I didn't think so... Anyway, I know this chapter isn't quite long enough to make up for the whole huge break, but at least the story is now officially on track! Without any further ado, please enjoy and review!

* * *

_

**Chapter 6**

Misaki blearily opened her eyes. She looked at the scene in front of her and saw the empty seat of the limousine. It was sideways. Then she felt a slight tugging in her hair. She rolled over from her left side onto her back so she was looking up. Usui was staring out the window of the limousine and absentmindedly stroking her hair. When he felt her roll over, he transferred his gaze from the window and gave her one of the tenderest smiles Misaki had ever seen. Blushing, she rolled back over to stare at the seat again. Then she realized where she was lying; her head was on Usui's lap! She practically threw herself to the other side of the seat, her face burning. Misaki lightly tossed her hair over her shoulder so it was out of her face and then noticed something. Her hair was no longer in it's careful half-updo that hid her… "lovemark". Looking down, she found that she was also no longer in the purple dress. In astonishment, she turned to see if Usui was still in his suit. He wasn't.

"Um, Usui…" Misaki began.

He returned his gaze from the window to look at her again.

"When did we change clothes?"

Usui smirked at her. "You don't remember, Prez? You seemed wide awake when we were at the dress shop."

"We went back to the dress place?" Misaki asked, confused. "When?"

"Between our date and now."

Misaki glared at Usui. "Somehow I had figured that out for myself."

Usui just smiled at her.

* * *

**"Um… why are you guys here?"**

Misaki and Usui stared at Duena and Rupert, who were standing in front of the information booth.

**"Hahaha! What-a-splendid-surprise. I-did-not-expect-to-see-you-two-here-at-all," **Duena laughed awkwardly.

**"How did you know we were going to be here?"** Misaki asked.

**"You don't remember?"** Duena said. **"Aunt Becca said that hiking was all you could talk about when she was finding suitable clothes for you."**

Misaki frowned. She couldn't remember saying that at all. She didn't even remember being at the dress shop.

**"Anyway, since you guys are finally here, let's get going!"** Duena said cheerfully.

Misaki looked at Duena's outfit and blanched. **"Um, Duena, are you sure that you want to go hiking in that?"**

**"What's wrong with it?"** Duena asked.

_'What isn't wrong with it?' _thought Misaki. Duena was wearing a lacy baby blue blouse over what looked like a silk camisole. She was wearing a floral print skirt that ended just below her knees, but had enough bounce that when she moved, you could see much more of her legs. Her shoes however, were the worst. She was wearing strappy wedge-heels. Altogether she was dressed impeccably… for something other than hiking.

**"Oh, uh, hahaha…"** Misaki laughed awkwardly. **"It's nothing. Let's just get going, ok?"

* * *

**

**"Tyler! Tyler! Can't catch me!"**

** "No fair, Katie! You cheated!"**

The two little kids dashed past the foursome at top speed, laughter following them. A few seconds later, a haggard-looking couple came by, apologizing. **"Please excuse our children—"**

** "—I'm very sorry about that—"**

** "—I hope you aren't hurt—"**

When they reached Misaki's group, they apologized yet again.

**"It's all right. Really it is. No one was hurt, and they're just kids after all,"** Misaki said.

After the parents had gone by, Duena said, **"Hey Misaki. Let's race too! I haven't raced in a long time. I bet I could beat you!"**

** "Oh really? Well, we'll see about that!" **Misaki challenged.

She was about to take off when Usui grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off the ground while Rupert did the same to Duena.

"Hey, Prez. Don't you think you should wait until there are less people around?"

Misaki blushed. "…that's probably a good idea. **Hey, Duena, let's race when the path is cleared so we don't have to worry about hurting anyone."**

She nodded. "Hey, Rupert, you can put me down now."

Without a word, Rupert did as she asked.

"Usui, the same goes for you."

Usui put Misaki down, but he kept his grip on her waist. "You know, I didn't mean that you two would accidentally hurt someone if you raced here. I just didn't want you to embarrass yourself," he said in her ear.

"Wh-what do you mean by that?" Misaki demanded.

"Oh, nothing. Just that you run so slowly, people would be embarrassed to see you run and you'd be embarrassed to be seen running."

Misaki gasped and turned around. "What? Do you mean I run slowly? I bet I could run faster than you!" She prodded him in the chest with her forefinger.

Usui raised an eyebrow at her. "Is that a challenge, Misa-chan?"

"Yes." Misaki crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Then what are the odds?"

"What do you mean 'the odds'?"

Usui smirked at her. "You said that you'd bet. What do I get if I win?"

When Misaki didn't reply, Usui continued. "How about this, Prez? If you win, I'll let you do whatever you want here for an entire day."

Usui held up a hand to stop the delighted Misaki from interrupting. "But, if I win, Misaki has to kiss me. On. The. Lips."

Misaki paled. She stared at the ground, her bangs covering her eyes, thinking hard. There were too many possibilities. She could have free reign for an entire day, but if she lost… was it worth it.

Duena and Rupert watched the exchange, baffled.

Finally Misaki looked back up, a fire of challenge shining in her eyes. "Fine. I'll do it."

Usui smiled. "Good. Oh, but don't forget who won the obstacle race at the Sports Festival."

Misaki glared at him. "What do you—"

"Go!"

Usui took off after yelling the start of the race, with Misaki chasing after him a split second later, shouting him down.

Duena and Rupert looked at each other, looked at the rapidly disappearing couple, shrugged and walked back to the entrance where there was both benches and food.

* * *

"Usui."

"…"

"Usui!"

"…"

"_Baka Usui!_"

"Yes, Prez?"

"When does this race end?"

The two had been racing for an hour and a half. At first they had both been at top speed, but they had slowed so that now they were running in step with each other. Although, Misaki was doing her best to stay a slight bit ahead of Usui.

"It ends when one of us wins, doesn't it?"

"That's not what I meant," Misaki growled. "I _meant_ what's the ending point? How do we know it's over?"

"When one of us crosses the finishing line."

"And _where_ is the finishing line?" Misaki demanded through clenched teeth.

"…"

"_USUI!" _Misaki screeched to a stop and grabbed Usui's arm to stop him too. "Usui, where is the finishing line?"

"Guess you'll just have to keep running and find out, won't you, Misa-chan?" And with that, Usui took off again, Misaki screaming profanities at his back.

* * *

"Usui?"

"Mm?"

There were running in pace again.

"Where are Rupert and Duena?"

"Look, Prez."

"What is it?"

"That sign says 'Mountain Lions.'"

Misaki moved away the plants that were obstructing the sign.

"Prez?"

"Usui, this says that this is a dangerous season for mountain lions!"

"Prez, that's poison ivy."

"_What?"

* * *

_

"Lucky we found some water, right, Prez?"

"You still could've warned me before I touched the poison ivy." Misaki was sitting at the side of the river, scrubbing her arms vigorously.

"I'm not sure you're going to get it all off that way, Prez."

Misaki looked up from her task. "What do you mean?"

"Your clothes also touched the plants. You should take those off too."

Misaki gasped and turned bright red. "You—you perverted outer space alien! Like hell I would do that! Especially if you're right there!"

"So if you won't take off your clothes, should I take your clothes off for you? And mine too, while I'm at it?"

"Wh—I—no—that's—fo—" Misaki spluttered.

Usui laughed. "Calm down, Prez. It's just your jacket that touched the poison ivy too, right? Then just wash that off and let it dry. I'm going to take a nap." He crossed over to one of the trees, flopped down onto his back, put his hand under his head, and closed his eyes.

"Wait, you—" Misaki cut herself off when he opened one eye to look at her. "Baka. Baka boy that likes to tease me and confuse me. Perverted outer space alien. Saying perverted things. Hmph," she muttered to herself quietly enough that she was sure that he couldn't hear her. She scrubbed even harder at the jacket than she had on her arms. "He couldn't just tell me that only my jacket needed to be washed. No… he has to say all kinds of perverted things. He should just go back to his Pheromone planet and… eh?"

A branch that had been floating in the river snagged the jacket and ripped it out of Misaki's hands. "Damn it!" Misaki quickly stood and began chasing her jacket in the fast-flowing river by dashing alongside the bank. She spotted a bridge further up ahead where she'd be able to grab the jacket from the middle of the river. She ran ahead and positioned herself to get her missing article of clothing, holding onto the railing for support. The jacket neared and Misaki had to bend almost upside down to reach it. Just as she managed to get a solid grip on it, she heard something snap. A split second later, she was thrown headfirst into the river.

Misaki straightened herself quickly and got her head back above water. Gasping, she tried to call out as the river coursed through the forest.

'U-Usui!" she managed to weakly call out.

Usui's eyes snapped open and he sat up. Misaki was gone. A little bit down the bank, he saw a footprint in the mud, showing which way she had gone. He tore after her. Before too long, Usui saw the broken bridge. Assuming what happened, he increased his speed. Scanning the river, he finally saw her.

"Ayuzawa!"

By now, Misaki was too waterlogged to do anything but stay afloat.

Usui jumped into the river and swam to Misaki. Wrapping his left arm around her waist, he painstakingly fought the current to bring them back to the bank. He dragged Misaki onto the bank and anxiously watched her chest to see if she was breathing. She wasn't.

"Ayuzawa."

"Ayuzawa, please wake up."

"Damn it. You can be mad about this later." Usui took a deep breath and placed his mouth on Misaki's, forcing air into her lungs. It didn't work. He took another breath and tried again.

Misaki began coughing. He rolled her over onto her stomach so she wouldn't choke.

Misaki got onto her hands and knees to cough the water out of her lungs.

"Ayuzawa, are you all right?" Usui asked when her coughing had subsided.

"I'm okay," she rasped. "What about you?"

"Me?" Usui looked at her in shock. "What do you mean? I'm fine."

Misaki sighed and gave him a slight smile. "Good. That means I don't have to take care of you or anything. I think I'm going to take a nap."

"You should sleep in the sun so you don't get a cold."

"Usui," Misaki said, standing up to get a good look at their surroundings. "There are trees everywhere. There is no sun."

Usui also stood. "Then let's find a sunny patch where my Misa-chan can take a nap," he said, smirking.

"_Your_ Misa-chan?"

"I just saved my Misa-chan from a watery death and she won't even acknowledge that I'm her master?"

"No."

Usui turned to look at her with puppy-dog eyes.

Misaki glared at him. "I don't even know what you're even trying to convince me to do."

Usui scooped her up so he was carrying her princess-style. "Let's go, then."

"Wait, put me down!"

"No."

"Usui, put me down!"

"No."

"You baka perver—"

Misaki rubbed her forehead to rid herself of Usui's kiss. "You were being loud again, Prez."

* * *

"Oh, so you're awake?"

Misaki sat up and rubbed her eyes. The clearing that she and Usui had found was still fairly lit. Then Misaki realized something. "Usui, what time is it?"

"… It must be about seven or eight o'clock."

Misaki leapt up. "Already? We seriously need to get back!"

Usui stayed where he was. "Probably."

"Usui…?"

"Mm?"

"Where's the map?"

"I didn't take one."

"Then where's the trail?"

"I don't know."

"Usui… do you know where we are…?"

"Nope."

Misaki pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep calming breath. "Usui…?"

"Mm?"

Misaki snapped her hand down and screamed, "YOU MEAN TO SAY THAT WE'RE LOST IN THIS GIGANTIC FOREST?"

"Looks like it."

* * *

_Yay, getting lost in the forest instead of random costumes and dinners and dances! Oh, so I have a question. I'm quite sick of all of the chapters being named "Chapter such-and-such" because it's boring. Do any of you have any suggestions that would be good for each chapter but making sure it doesn't give away what's going to happen?_

_I want to thank everyone who pushed me to update in your reviews. I'll have you know that every time I read those reviews I would get out the chapter and start to work on it... and then I'd get sidetracked. At least I attempted at trying...  
_

_Oh and guess what else I forgot? Becca is a name too and she totally didn't make the list last chapter! I also chose her name just because I liked it.  
_

_**Becca:** to tie (Isn't that just the funniest thing? Because of the whole corset thing!)_

_ Besides, she didn't have a name when I wrote that chapter. She only has a name because someone suggested that I go give her a name so she's not just the woman or something. I'm sorry I'm too lazy to go back and find out who that was. However, you know who you are Oh Suggester person. Thanks!_

_Anyway, I hope you liked it! Now, please review!  
_


	7. Cub

_Hello, again, everyone! Don't worry, I didn't drop off the face of the planet. Instead, I was attacked by aliens for over a month and have spent the last few days recuperating. I was also drawn into a whole new obsession. I also had summer school. And really all of there reasons are just me trying to B.S. my way out of saying that I have severely been procrastinating on my stories. Now because I am leaving for band camp tomorrow, I just thought I would get done with at least one chapter of something. So here you are! As always, please read, enjoy, and review!_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kaichou wa Maid-sama. If I did, well it certainly wouldn't get printed as often as it does.**_

* * *

  
_

**Chapter Seven**

Usui leaned back in the grass, his hands folded behind his head. The sun setting over the forest was beautiful, making all of the trees glow a lovely orange. He closed his eyes, peacefully listening with half his hearing to the girl who was ranting at him about how they were lost and it was his entire fault. A small smile appeared on his face.

"I don't know what you have to smile about, Usui! If you haven't noticed, we happen to be lost in the forest when it's already starting to get dark. In case you're wondering, being lost in a forest when it happens to be dark out is a _bad_ thing! Especially when we happen to be in a place that's not familiar to us. If you really want to know, being in an unknown forest, when it's _dark out_ is extremely bad and that badness is made even worse when there are animals that we don't know lurking out there!"

Usui opened one eye to blearily smirk at her. "Badness?"

Ruefully, Usui rubbed his now swollen shin as Misaki limped away. "Prez, where are you going?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to try to find some sort of shelter before we lose all of our daylight."

"But Prez…"

"What?" Misaki whirled around to glare at him.

"…nothing."

Misaki turned around and stomped out of the clearing. Usui gave the way to the river a last look before following his cute little maid the exact opposite direction.

* * *

The last of the light quickly disappeared as the two students walked through the woods. Before long, Misaki was regretting her decision to leave the clearing. The dark of the forest was far worse than she had imagined. The gloom of the whole place was giving her the creeps. It didn't help that Usui was following her so closely that every once in a while his breath would hit her neck, causing her to shiver.

"Will you stop it?" she whispered angrily at him.

"Stop what, Prez?" he asked in a normal tone.

"Shhh!" Misaki shushed him. "Stop breathing down my neck."

"Why do we have to be quiet?" Usui leaned towards her in conspiring manner.

"Because it's dark out and who knows what kind of animals are out there!" Misaki turned away from Usui and set off into the brush again when Usui caught her hand. "Let go of me!" she hissed at him.

"But who knows what kinds of animals are out there," Usui repeated. "And maybe there are ghosts out there too.

By the way Misaki's face went deathly white, Usui knew she hadn't even contemplated that idea.

Misaki shook her head and put a brave face on. "Baka Usui, there aren't any ghosts here. We just need to watch out for wolves and coyotes and animals like that."

"And ghosts."

"There aren't any ghosts!" Misaki insisted, tearing her hand out of his.

Almost immediately, Misaki regretted the warmth of his hand, but she refused to let it show. She headed of once again into the brush with Usui right behind her.

* * *

Misaki nearly jumped out of her skin about fifteen minutes later when Usui grabbed her arm.

"Prez, why don't we sleep over there," Usui suggested, pointing.

It was a fairly clear area. The moon lit up the area in a very peaceful manner, while the fireflies helped create a very serene setting. The twinkling reflection of the moon off of a little brook near a weeping willow made it the perfect spot. Misaki walked toward it, entranced. She pushed aside the willows branches and curled up at its trunk, almost asleep already. Breathing deeply, she allowed herself to relax, until she heard the branches being moved again. Usui flopped down beside her, fully intending to sleep next to her.

"Oh, no you don't," Misaki said, scrambling to her feet. "You are not sleeping here next to me."

"Why not, Misa-chan? You've slept next to me before."

Misaki blushed as she remembered all the times she had slept with Usui around. There were far too many times in that list that she didn't care to remember. "P-perverted outer space alien! It's never been like this though!"

Usui furrowed his eyebrows, confused. "What do you mean?"

Misaki's blush intensified as she tried to explain. "I-I mean, like this. We've never been asleep next to each other, you know, _lying down_. It's always been me on a couch or a bed or something. We've never both been asleep next to each other."

Usui smiled and grabbed Misaki around the waist, pulling her down onto his lap. "Well, there's a first time for everything, right?" he whispered onto her cheek and then planted a faint kiss there.

Usui allowed himself to be shoved out of the branches, smiling softly as he rubbed his sore arm. He went back into his position of laziness from earlier, with his hands behind his head, gazing up at the moon. It sure was a beautiful spot he had found. He glanced at the girl between the curtains of willow branches. She was already breathing deeply, sound asleep. Although Usui would never admit it to Misaki, she was right when she said that there were all kinds of animals in the forest. He would keep watch at night. She would be capable to take care of herself in the morning, and then they could find the trail again. He closed his eyes and let himself doze, but kept his ears open, ever on the alert for any dangers.

* * *

Misaki opened her eyes slightly. It was still dark out. The moon had completely crossed the sky and was almost gone. There was something wrong though. Misaki could feel the tension in the air, and she was sure that was what had woken her. Not moving, she listened for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. After several long minutes, she decided there wasn't anything for her to hear. She closed her eyes and was just about to relax her intense posture when something bumped into the small of her back. Misaki froze yet again. Whatever had run into her was still moving. She felt the thing, bump at her again. Not hard, but… like it was curious. Then it scrambled up onto her hip. It was small and light. Slowly, Misaki opened her eyes to see if she could see the creature in the side of her eyes. She didn't need her peripheries. The little thing hopped off of her and wandered around to her face, sniffing. Misaki's eyes widened when it made a sort of mewling sound. It was unmistakably a lion cub.

Watching her carefully, the cub lifted a paw, as if in greeting. Then it sneezed.

Misaki couldn't help but smile. "Bless you," she whispered.

The cub started at the sound Misaki had made. It darted back a few steps and then looked at her curiously.

"Sorry," Misaki whispered.

The cub cautiously stepped back towards Misaki and raised its paw again. This time, instead of lowering it, the cub swatted Misaki's nose gently.

Misaki giggled, causing the cub to dart away again.

"Sorry," Misaki apologized again. The cub bounced forward and swatted Misaki's nose again, but spilled some of her hair down in front of her face. At the sight of this new curiosity, the cub sniffed at her hair and swatted at it. When it moved, the cub gave a little squeak of a growl and started chewing on her hair. Misaki giggled again, but the cub was too busy being ferocious to notice.

Misaki had been watching the cub so intently that she had forgotten something. "Hey, where's your mom?" she whispered at her little attacker. As soon as the words left her mouth, the smile vanished from her face. She could feel the mother's eyes watching her. She didn't know where the mother was, but she knew that somewhere a lioness was not far away. Misaki knew that if the mother thought her cub was in danger, she would attack and Misaki's hope of surviving it would not be very good at all.

As the minutes passed, Misaki began to feel more and more tense. The cub was still contentedly playing with her clothing. At the moment, it was busy killing off her shoelaces.

More minutes passed.

Fifteen minutes.

Half and hour.

Eventually, an entire hour had passed and the lion cub was finally tiring of Misaki's clothes and hair. It gave a great yawn, showing off all of its small but sharp white little teeth. Sleepily, it padded up to Misaki's chest and curled up right next to her. Sighing deeply, the small cub quickly fell asleep, leaving Misaki to worry about its mother.

* * *

_And... CLIFFHANGER! _

_I know, it's a really mean thing to do, but my father has forced a new rule on the kids of the family. Four hours of screen time per day. That includes television AND computer. Frankly, it's kind of killing me. When I'm on the computer, I need time to get side-tracked and then go back to what I was really doing. It's very important to me! Plus, now I have to add in my latest obsession that I mentioned at the top (It's a TV show called Doctor Who. It's AMAZING. I've watched it before, but now I'm completely hooked. It's a minor problem.) so that cuts into my screen time even more. Each episode is an hour long! Add that, plus fanfiction of various stories, mangas, animes, books, and movies, plus the manga and anime themselves, PLUS actually checking my e-mails... It's more than a four-hour workload. _

_Oh well... thanks for actually reading my rant. Unless of course you just skimmed through it, which is what I usually do. (haha.) Anyway, I've been thinking about going back and changing a few things in the earlier chapters. Nothing big of course, but I have found that Duena's dialogue with Misaki is much too fluent. Misaki shouldn't be able to understand so much so readily. Plus, I've decided to change the menu in the restaurant to French. Much more difficult for Misaki to read. Add that all together, and that equals... a lot of work to be done. Are there any other holes that you guys have noticed in my plot? Or anything else that needs to be fixed? Oh, and of course, after I've done the changes, this note here will disappear._

_Now if you have skimmed through both of the above paragraphs, (or even if you haven't) welcome to the end! Please review, even though I don't deserve it for being gone for so long!_


	8. Lioness leads to?

_Hello hello! I'm back from probably the longest break I've taken in a while when it comes to fanfiction. I have no excuses, (unless you count school started, play auditions, and marching band competitions and practices.) But this chapter is for all of you who begged/threatened me to continue. This is also for those of you who said that there wasn't enough Misaki+Usui interaction in the last chapter. Anyway, please read and enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

"Ayuzawa!"

"Usui?" Misaki responded to the urgent whisper.

"Ayuzawa, don't move."

Misaki thought about just doing as he said, but there was a subtle trace of panic in his voice that she had never heard before. "Usui, what is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

The strain in his voice at this lie was obvious.

"Usui! Tell me!" Misaki, mindful of the cub still next to her, started to slowly raise her upper half off the ground.

"Prez, no," Usui moaned. "Just this once, please listen to me and stay _down_."

"Not until you tell me what's going on." Misaki did not try to get up any further, but she refused to lie back down.

Usui sighed. "There's a mountain lion here. I think this is part of its hunting grounds."

Misaki closed her eyes and grimaced. Glancing at the cub, she realized that she and Usui were in more danger than they had ever been before.

"Where is she? The lioness I mean."

"How do you know it's a she? And she's at the edge of this clearing. Where we were when we saw this tree."

"Then she's just watching us," Misaki breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good."

"Observing us," Usui corrected. "She's trying to figure out how much of a threat we are to her."

"I don't think she's thinking we're a threat to her…"

"What do you mean?"

"I have her cub."

Misaki heard Usui breathe in sharply and curse under his breath. "And _when_ did you get the cub?"

Taken slightly aback at his biting tone, Misaki retorted hotly, "I don't know! Maybe an hour ago! It came up to me. What was I supposed to do, scare it away?"

"Yes! Yes, that is _exactly_ what you were supposed to do!

"Well, I'm sorry!" Misaki's apology dripped with sarcasm. "But it's kind of too late for that now!"

"You think?" Usui's anger matched Misaki's in waspishness.

Both fell into an uneasy silence as they tried to control their tempers.

A low growl filled the clearing.

Misaki wracked her brains, trying to thing of _something _that they could do.

"Ayuzawa. I need to come here."

"What? Before you said not to move!"

"I KNOW—" Usui breathed out slowly and modified the volume of his voice. "I know what I said before. Please, just do what I'm saying now. Please."

"…All right." Slowly Misaki crawled out of the canopy of willow branches to where Usui was sitting, leaving the cub curled up in a ball, asleep.

As soon as she was next to him she whispered, "Now where's the—"

Usui's lips crashing onto hers firmly silenced her. But this kiss was different. Instead of soft and gentle, or teasing, this was forceful. Painful.

Misaki put her hands on his chest and pushed him away as best she could. "Usui, stop. I—"

Again, he was kissing her in the same hard, cruel way. Without removing his lips, he pushed Misaki down onto the ground on her back. Misaki started struggling fiercely. She turned her head away and managed to gasp out, "Stop it, Usui!"

Usui pulled away slightly. Terrified, Misaki looked into his eyes. She didn't want to see what she had seen the last time someone had pushed her down. Lust, anger, pleasure in her struggles… Last time Usui had saved her. This time, she was on her own against her rescuer. Looking at Usui's face, she saw the very last emotion that she thought she would ever see there: fear.

"Ayuzawa, I know. Please just… trust me. Please," Usui begged her quietly. Without waiting for her answer, he began kissing her again. The first was soft, like an apology, then they grew harder, but not as hard as before. Usui straddled Misaki's hips with his knees and placed his hands on either side of her head so he was fully on top of her. Slowly, his lips began to trail down her jawline and onto her neck. Usui delicately licked what remained of the lovebite he had given her and then bit down on it again. When Misaki jerked in surprise, he let the weight of his lower half settle on hers to keep her still.

Slowly, Misaki felt a sickly-sweet… _warmth_ spread through her body. Usui turned his head to kiss her mouth once again, and the rest of his body moved slightly as well. A rush of heat swelled within her and clearly showed on the red blush of her face.

Usui continued his ministrations on her face and neck until she finally responded to him. She grabbed the front of his shirt in both hands and held him to her. All of a sudden, he broke off mid-kiss and looked away, staring intently at something. Detaching Misaki's hands from his shirt, he stood and began walking away.

Slightly dazed, Misaki sat up and asked "Usui? Wha—"

He cut her off. "I'll be right back. Stay here." With that, he slowly trailed off. Misaki watched him, noticing that his casual strut was a bit… awkward.

Shaking her head, Misaki admonished herself. _'What in the world was all of that? Why the hell did I let him do that to me? It was weird, but—' _Misaki shook her head again, more violently this time, refusing to let herself finish the thought. She scrambled to her feet, trying to clear her mind. She knelt by the little brook and splashed some water on her still burning face. All of a sudden, she froze as she remembered something. The lioness and the cub were still in the area.

Breathing deeply and slowly, Misaki slowly stood and turned around, expecting to be eye to eye with a ferocious, protective mother lion. There was nothing in the clearing. Misaki crept to the willow tree and moved the branches away to see the sleeping cub. He was gone. Giving a sigh of relief, Misaki leaned her back against the tree trunk and slid down onto the ground. Finally truly relaxing for the first time since finding the cub, Misaki began dozing off. Before she could completely fall asleep, she heard the branches of the willow tree being moved aside. Opening her eyes, she saw Usui.

"Umm… I—"

"Go back to sleep, Misa-chan," Usui said. He too slid down the trunk and sat next to her. He snaked her right arm behind her back and around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

Protesting, Misaki tried to push him away from her. "Perverted outer-space alien! What are you trying to do?"

"I just want to be near my cute little maid." He nuzzled his head against hers and Misaki would have leapt out of his arms if he hadn't had an iron grip on her. Trying to ignore that, Misaki noticed something.

"Usui, why is your hair wet? And your shirt is damp too."

"No reason." His face morphed into that blank expressionless face of his.

"What do you mean 'no reason'? Of course there's a reason! Baka Usui, what did you do?"

"I fell."

"You _fell_?" Misaki repeated in disbelief. "And how does falling get your hair completely soaked?"

"I fell into the stream."

"You _fell _into the _stream_? How did you manage to do that?" she asked scathingly.

"You fell in earlier."

Misaki colored. "That-that's completely different and you know it! And wouldn't the rest of you be just as wet then too?"

Usui smirked at her. "So Prez has been noticing me then? Does Prez want to see me with wet clothes on? Or without any clothes at all?"

This time Misaki really did leap out of his arms. "I—no—what do you—ugh!"

Usui chuckled.

Misaki glowered at him and promptly sat back down facing him, a safe distance of three feet between them. "So… where is the lion cub?"

"Lion cub?" Usui repeated, his face blank again.

"Yes. The lion cub that was here before. He's gone now."

"Yes. He is gone."

"I just said that."

"…"

Misaki glared at him with a look that could quail a whole assembly of unruly boys. Usui seemed unfazed. "Where's the mother lion then?"

"The lioness."

"Yes," Misaki said tightly. "You said there was a lioness here. She's gone now. Where did she go?"

"She is gone too."

"Yes," Misaki said again, her anger making each consonant sharp and biting. "I know that."

"Good."

Frustration getting the better of her, Misaki stood up and marched over to the brook where she found the biggest rock she could find (which was a pitiful little thing in regards to rocks, it was not much bigger than her fist) and hurled it as hard as she could at the willow tree.

Much to Usui's credit, he didn't flinch as the rock sailed over his head and smashed into pebbles on the tough trunk of the tree. He didn't even move as the dust and pebbled rained onto his still wet hair, turning it steel-colored in places. Only after the dust settled on the ground did Usui rise and cross over to where Misaki was standing.

"Where did you fall in the stream?"

"Huh?" Usui raised his eyebrows in surprise at the seemingly random question.

"If it's a brook, then a stream, that means it's getting bigger."

"Oh! Prez is so clever!" Usui teased.

"If it's getting bigger," Misaki continued, refusing to be distracted by Usui, "that means that it will eventually turn into the river where, as you so nicely pointed out earlier, I fell in."

"Well, you did fall in."

"Yes. I know. But all we have to do is follow the brook and then stream and then river and we'll be back where we started. On an actual _trail_ because _somebody _didn't get a _map_."

"And if it doesn't lead back to where we started?"

"Then…" Misaki's confidence in her plan faltered for a split second, "then we'll just have to take whatever trail we find. It will eventually take us back to the site where the trails start."

"So when do we leave?"

"In the morning."

"Well, the sun's coming up now," Usui said, pointing behind Misaki. She turned around and gazed at the sunrise peering through the trees.

"Good morning, Prez."

* * *

_So... who can tell me where Usui went? Hmmm? Anyone? Thoughts? Ideas? Suspicions? Minds in the gutter? Haha._

_Does anyone know how long Usui and Misaki have been in California. I had to calculate it in my head because Misaki's sleeping calendar is so weirded up in this story. Apparently, they have only been there for what is now TWO DAYS. The next chapter begins their third day. Isn't that ridiculous?_

_Anyhow, please review. I know the loyals will and I love you all for that, but feedback from different perspectives is what an author truly craves._

_(and to think that the only reason I was able to write this chapter tonight was because I couldn't remember if I had German homework or not. I hope I don't. 0.o )  
_


	9. I spy

_**A/N: **Well, I once again have no excuses. Honestly, after two months you'd think that I would have had SOME time to write, and I did, but I found it more amusing to read other people's hard work than to actually do my own... So, you can all thank Rabz for getting on my case about being AWOL for so long... well, here's chapter nine for you. It's sort of a filler, because I'm not exactly sure on the plot right now... Enjoy!

* * *

_

Chapter Nine

"So here's a question, Prez. Do you want to play a game?"

Misaki sighed wearily. They had already been following the brook-turned-stream for about two hours, and while it was still merrily flowing by, they had yet to see any signs of human life. "What type of game, Usui?"

"I spy?"

Misaki stopped and turned around to look at him, one eyebrow raised. "Seriously?"

Usui nodded innocently.

Rolling her eyes, Misaki resumed marching. "Sure."

"All right, I'll start," Usui said, pleased for some reason that Misaki could not see. "I spy with my little eye something… green."

"You're joking, right?"

"What?"

Misaki rolled her eyes again, even though she knew Usui couldn't see her expression. "We're in a forest. In the spring. EVERYTHING is green."

"Then you better start guessing, huh Prez?"

"Fine," Misaki said. She wasn't in any mood to argue and so decided to play along, however half-heartedly. "Is it the trees?"

"Which tree?"

"That one," she said, not looking, but noncommittally waving at a tree to their right.

"What part of that tree?"

"The leaves."

"Which leaf?"

"That one," Misaki said, pointing.

"Ah, nope. It isn't that leaf. Try again."

"Is it the one next to it?"

"Nope. It isn't that one either. Do you want me to give you a hint?"

"Sure."

"It isn't a tree."

"Then why would you ask me to be more specific about the trees?" asked Misaki, exasperated.

"So Prez would actually try to play…"

Misaki looked at Usui over her shoulder. He had a puppy-dog look on his face.

She groaned. "Fine." Actually surveying the area around them this time, she asked, "Is it the moss on that tree trunk?"

"No."

"Is it the lily's stem?"

"Nuh uh."

"That frog over there?"

"Where's the frog?"

Misaki stopped walking to point it out. "See? It's on that rock over there, on the other side of the stream."

Usui stood next to her, peering at the other bank. "Where? I still don't see it."

"Look, it's right th—" Misaki shrieked as she lost her footing and slipped off the rock they were standing on and fell into the stream.

When she came up, spluttering, the first noise that graced her ears was Usui's laughter.

Glaring at him, she waded back to the bank. When she reached the raised area again, she looked up at Usui, who was still roaring with laughter.

Hands on her hips, she asked, "Well? Are you going to help me back up, or what?"

Wiping tears from his eyes, Usui grabbed Misaki's upper arms and lifted her back onto the ground above the stream.

He sat on the ground and watched chuckling as Misaki wrung water out of her clothes and hair.

"I don't see why you're still laughing. It really wasn't that funny," she snapped.

Breathing deeply, Usui managed to stifle the last of his laughter, but the smirk wouldn't leave his face.

"Are you ready now?" Misaki growled at him.

"Yup!" he said cheerily, getting back on his feet.

Misaki snorted quietly to herself and started walking again.

"Prez, do you want to continue our game?"

Taking Misaki's silence as a yes, Usui said, "All right… I spy with my little eye… something… gree—"

"NO!"

Chuckling again at her strong reaction, Usui rethought. "Then, I spy with my little eye… something wet."

"It's me."

"Yep."

"…"

"It's Misa-chan's turn."

"…"

"Then I'll go again. I spy with my little eye something… that's walking…"

"It's me."

"Yep."

"…"

"My turn again then. I spy with my little eye something… with wet hair…"

"It's me. And as my next guess, it's me. And in case it's your turn again, IT'S ME."

"Well, if you don't like my turns, then why don't you go?"

"…"

"Well?"

"… I'm not good at 'I spy.'"

"It's not that hard. Just find something and then tell me what color it is and then—"

"I'm colorblind."

Usui stopped dead in his tracks. Hearing him halt, Misaki stopped as well, but she didn't turn around to look at him.

"Are—are you really, Ayuzawa?" he asked quietly.

Misaki lifted her head and stared him down. "What do you think?" She began walking again.

Usui ran to walk side by side with her, and caught her left hand in his right. She shifted slightly, so he couldn't see her face.

"…Prez?" He squeezed her hand slightly. "Would you look at me?"

Misaki slowly turned her head. When she finally met his eyes, she couldn't help but crack a smile.

Usui frowned, confused. "Prez?"

Misaki burst out laughing. "Of course I'm not colorblind, baka Usui! How do you think I could survive Maid Latte if I were?"

"…That isn't very funny. I thought you were being completely serious."

"That was the point! I finally got you back!"

Usui looked at her, the hurt evident in his eyes.

Abashed, Misaki looked down at her soggy shoes. "…Sorry."

Without warning, Usui picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

"What—what the hell are you doing, baka Usui?" Misaki demanded.

"Well, I obviously have to throw you back into the stream. We can't have you on the same playing ground as me, can we?"

"_What? _Put me down!" said Misaki, struggling violently.

Laughing, Usui prepared to throw her in, just as she finally managed to loosen his grip.

With a wail, Misaki tumbled back down into the stream, but not before she had grabbed Usui's arm and dragged him in too.

"Well, that didn't work at all," Usui said quietly to himself.

"What do you mean it didn't work? I ended up in the stream again, didn't I?" Misaki said, letting a smile escape.

"Well, yes, but I wasn't supposed to fall in too," Usui pointed out.

Misaki splashed water in his face in response.

Not to be outdone, Usui splashed her back. Before long, a full-out splashing war had begun.

* * *

Breathing heavily, both Misaki and Usui stretched out on the grass in the sunlight on the opposite bank of where they had fallen.

Breaking the peace of their dozing while drying off, Misaki's stomach started to grumble. Sitting up, she smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

Usui sat up as well. "I'm hungry too. We haven't had anything to eat for…" he stopped to actually think about the last time they had eaten.

"The restaurant?"

"I think you're right."

Misaki's eyes widened at the thought. "Then we haven't eaten anything for… almost thirty hours?"

"Looks like it."

"Why weren't we hungry before?"

"…"

Misaki thought about everything that had happened yesterday. After the poison ivy was the river, where she had fallen in and been swept away, then Usui took her to a clearing, then they got lost, then there was the lion cub, and then the lioness, and then they had started walking after they realized that the sun was coming up.

"…We didn't have the _time _to be hungry," Usui said, matching Misaki's thoughts.

He stood up and extended his hand to her. "Come on, Prez, let's find the trail before we die of starvation."

"Oh, well _that's_ not a morbid thought," Misaki said, taking his hand with a wry smile.

Not letting go of Misaki's hand, Usui lead the way down the bank of the stream that had steadily grown bigger as they had walked.

After several minutes of silence, Usui said, "I spy with—"

"No. Nope. No, that isn't going to happen. Each time we play that game, I end up getting wet."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. First you couldn't see the frog, and then you just had to try and get revenge. Did you not notice that I ended up in the stream _twice_?" Misaki asked.

"So I got you wet then?"

"Yes, that's what I _just said_."

Usui looked at her with a leery smile on his face. "Maybe we should play so I can get you _wet_ again."

Misaki blushed as she realized what he was implying. She tried to wrench her hand out of his grip, but he wouldn't let go. "You perverted outer space alien! You let go of me you—you, baka Usui!"

Usui grabbed her and lifted her up into his arms. "I will never let go of you, Misa-chan," he playfully, but there was sincerity in his eyes that she noticed.

Misaki folded her arms across her chest and refused to look at him as her carried her.

Suddenly, she sat up straight. "Usui, can you hold me higher? I think I can see something."

Obligingly, Usui lifted her so she was sitting on one of his shoulders.

"I can see a bridge! There's a bridge further up that way!" Misaki shouted gleefully.

She leapt down from Usui's shoulders and smiled at him. "Come on, baka Usui!" She grabbed his hand and started charging through the forest towards the bridge where hopefully there would be…

"…a path," Misaki breathed. "There's a path. Oh, thank goodness there's a path." Throwing her arms around Usui's neck, she said again, "There's a path. Oh, this is great. An actual path."

She didn't notice until Usui's arms tightened around her that she noticed what kind of pose they were in.

"Umm…" she said, loosening her grip and looking Usui full in the face. He was smiling again, eyes twinkling.

"The—there's a path, Usui," she said quietly.

"Yeah. There is," he breathed. Slowly, he closed the gap between them and kissed her on the forehead.

"What was that for?"

"To mentally prepare you."

"For what?" Misaki asked, now thoroughly confused.

"For this." Usui leaned forward again, and this time his lips met hers.

"Well, would you look at that, Rupert? Here we are worrying about them and they're having a grand old time by themselves."

Gasping, Misaki tore away from Usui to look at the couple on the bridge. Smirking at them was Duena, with Rupert right next to her.

"**You know, I was actually very concerned about you two. I thought for sure that you were going to be eaten by wolves or something," **Duena continued.

"**Mountain lions,"** Rupert chimed in.

Duena nodded at him. **"Right, or mountain lions. But no, we finally see you, an entire twenty-four hours later, I might mention, and there you are, kissing away."**

Misaki blushed and opened her mouth to talk but Duena cut her off.

"**And you just **_**kept insisting **_**that he wasn't your boyfriend. Not even you're best friend. Oh no, he's **_**just**_** a friend. And you know, you never even really called him that. Just a something, something alien." **Duena had ambled her way up to where Usui and Misaki were standing. She winked at Misaki and whispered confidentially,** "You know, it doesn't quite look that way to me."**

Duena smiled at the couple and then linked arms with Rupert. **"I think we need to lead these two back to civilization, don't you, Rupert? Obviously, they've been out in the wild too long."**

Rupert nodded.

Misaki peeked up at Usui, wondering what his expression was going to be after Duena's announcement that they were definitely some kind of couple.

She didn't expect to see his face so hard or cold. She had expected… something. She wasn't quite sure what, but it definitely wasn't some kind of… bad. Usui's expression was absolutely stony.

* * *

**_A/N:_**_ Dun dun dun... You know, Duena and Rupert just keep showing up. There were supposed to be one chapter characters, but they keep worming their way back into the story... oh well. Please review, even if it's just to yell at me for taking so long._


	10. Muffins

Well, everyone... I'm back! I'm not even going to bother with excuses because frankly, it only takes a few hours to churn out a chapter, so this really should have been here months and months ago. However, I will have you know that the sudden update is thanks to my new job, where I have hours of downtime and no internet connectivity to distract me. Just Mahjong and Spider Solitaire... And I want to do a shout-out thank you and apology to all those who yelled at me for not finishing this sooner. Especially since I just reread the last chapter, and I left you on a completely unfair cliffhanger for ages! So, without any further ado, enjoy!

Btw, I don't own Kaichou wa Maid-sama.

* * *

"Usui?"

"..."

"Usui? Would you please answer me?"

"Yes, Prez?"

Misaki suddenly felt even more awkward than before. She could deal with Usui being his usual perverted self, but he was never angry with her. It wasn't something she was used to. And now, while following Duena and Rupert, who had thought to bring a map, Usui refused to talk with her. They had been walking for over half an hour in silence. Now that he had suddenly answered, Misaki realized that she had nothing to say. Luckily, Duena chose that moment to break into their non-existent conversation.

"**Guess what! We're almost back to the main trail. After that, we only have about another half hour to walk! Isn't that exciting?" ** Duena said cheerfully.

"**Really? That's good,"** said Misaki, relieved.

As Duena skipped to catch up with Rupert, who was studiously analyzing the map, Misaki looked up at Usui. "Isn't this great? We'll be out of here soon!"

"Yes, Prez. This is great."Usui still refused to look at her, and his voice was a careful monotone. It was like they were mere acquaintances who had been thrown together during an outing.

Feeling thoroughly shunned, Misaki hurried up to walk with Duena who was animatedly talking to Rupert about something she had seen earlier that day.

* * *

"**Bye, Misaki! I don't know if I'll see you later, but if I do, you have to tell me all about yourself and Japan, okay? Right? Oh, I'm going to miss you so much!" **Duena crushed Misaki in a hug and chattered on. **"I'm going to visit Japan eventually so you have to be sure to remember me when we randomly see each other on the street in Japan, okay? This has been super fun! Say good-bye, Rupert! Don't just stand there!" **Duena admonished her partner who had been standing awkwardly behind them.

Rupert bowed formally and then shook Misaki's hand and then Usui's. "**It has been a pleasure meeting you both."**

Duena giggled. **"He's always like that," **she said conspiratorially to Misaki.

With another hug, Duena and Rupert both climbed into their car and the driver set off.

Suddenly much more aware of the tension between Usui and herself with the cheerful buffer gone, Misaki gulped. "So, uh, what are we going to do now, Usui?"

"Food."

"What?"

"We're going to get food," Usui clarified. "We haven't eaten anything in almost two days, we've been wandering around for hours, we have only had stream water to drink, and you're on the brink of collapsing. We need to get some food."

"What do you mean I'm on the brink of collapsing? I feel fine," Misaki insisted.

"Look at your hands."

Misaki looked down and sure enough, her hands were visibly shaking. "Wh-what does that mean?" she whispered. "Am I going to be okay?" She looked up, searching for Usui's eyes.

He avoided her gaze. "You'll be fine. You just need food and rest," he said succinctly. "Let's go. The car is finally here."

"What, no limo this time?" Misaki attempted to joke.

The side of Usui's lip twitched. "I could always call for a limo, Prez. I just thought that you didn't like them."

"I don't like them," Misaki said. "I guess I'm just used to them now." She leaned forward to open the door and started swaying dangerously.

"Prez, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I just..." Misaki's words trailed off as her legs gave way underneath her. Usui caught her and bundled her into the car. He checked her pulse and watched her breathing. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She had simply fallen asleep.

"Is everything all right, Usui-sama?" the driver asked.

"Yes," Usui said. "Just take us to the hotel. She needs to be in a real bed and get a good meal."

"If you don't mind me saying, Usui-sama, you could use the same thing. You both look exhausted, not to mention filthy." The driver carefully examined the couple through his mirror. "A nice, hot bath will do wonders for you both."

"...don't want... both."

Usui glanced at the girl in his arms. "What did you say, Misa-chan?"

"Don't want bath... with pervert," she mumbled.

Usui chuckled. "I don't think he meant that we'd take a bath together, Prez."

* * *

Usui gently placed Misaki down on the bed and shook her awake. "Ayuzawa. Food is being delivered to the room. You need to wake up now."

Misaki blearily looked around. "Where are we now?"

"What, no shock this time?" Usui said as he plopped into what looked like an extremely comfortable plushy chair.

"I'm too used to waking up where I didn't fall asleep now," Misaki said dryly. "I'm assuming we're in a hotel?"

"Usui-sama?" A voice called from outside the door of the room. "Usui-sama, we have brought you your meal."

"Come in," Usui replied.

As the door opened, Misaki was hit by wafts of the smell of warm, delicious food. Three carts were pushed into the room all loaded with silver trays covered by silver rounded lids to keep the food warm. The waiters all bowed as they left the room, and quietly shut the door behind them.

After a moment's slight hesitation at the spectacle she had just seen, Misaki all but leaped off the bed to attack the food. At least, she would have attacked the food if a hand had not grabbed her wrist, effectively stopping her from stabbing into a hunk of meat.

"Misa-chan," Usui admonished, "you can't just start gorging yourself. You haven't eaten in over a day. If you eat too quickly, you'll end up with a stomach-ache if not something much more life-threatening."

"Then why did you order all of this food?"

"I didn't know what Prez would like, so I just ordered everything off the menu."

"You ordered _everything_ of the menu?" Misaki echoed in disbelief. "You mean _everything _from this super fancy hotel's room service menu?"

"Mm," Usui affirmed as he slowly chewed a muffin.

" You are... are..." Misaki sank onto the bed. "absolutely insane. Do you know how much that is going to _cost? _Why in the world would you do that?"

"Because I want my cute little maid to eat something that she likes," Usui said.

Misaki shook her head and grabbed an apple. "Impossible..." she muttered.

Usui just smiled as he took another bite of his muffin.

* * *

"Usui, what are we going to do with the rest of the food? We haven't even reached the second shelf of the first cart!"

"Maybe Misa-chan should eat more."

"I can't any more! Why did you order all of this? Now it's all going to go to waste!"

Usui studied her carefully over the top of his fourth muffin. "If Misa-chan ate all of it, it wouldn't go to waste."

"You think I don't know that?" Misaki snapped irritably. "But there's no way that two people could eat all of this. It would take at least five people per cart!"

"So fifteen people?"

Misaki glared at Usui. "Yes. Ha. Ha. You can do math in your head. Very good."

"Am I detecting a slight hint of sarcasm?" Usui smirked.

" Not in the _slightest," _Misaki answered.

"So Prez is praising me instead of insulting me? This is an interesting change."

Misaki sighed. "Usui, you're missing the point. We have all of this extra food and it's not like we can just throw it away. What are we supposed to do with it?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"And what exactly is doing nothing going to achieve?" Misaki balked at the idea.

Usui slowly unwrapped his sixth muffin from the paper around its base. "The people here are used to guests who order far too much food than they could possibly eat. Rich people. The staff has their own method of disposing the food so it isn't wasted. Of course, they don't tell the people who come here that. Just the people who actually want to know. Most people don't care enough to ask. They just expect the food to be cleared away when they come back to their room." He took a bite into the muffin. "Yum... poppy-seed."

"So all this food is going to end up somewhere useful? It won't be wasted?" Misaki clarified.

"Mm."

Misaki rolled her eyes. "Was that a yes, a no, or just another muffin comment?"

"Muffin," Usui smiled. "But yes, that's correct."

"Oh, well... good."

"Here. Muffin. Try it." Usui held out his half-eaten muffin. "It's good."

Misaki looked carefully at the muffin before nibbling into it. Her eyes widened and she took a larger bite. "It _is_ good!"

Usui smirked at her.

Suddenly Misaki felt very suspicious. She examined the muffin carefully. Nothing seemed wrong with it, but she hadn't had a poppy-seed muffin before. Glaring at Usui, she said, "What did you do to it?"

"I didn't do anything, Misa-chan. You did."

"What did I do?"

Usui leaned forward and tapped her lightly on the nose. "Indirect kiss," he whispered.

Standing up while the color flooded to Misaki's face, he said, "You should take a nap. I promise you won't wake up somewhere different this time."

"Where will you be going?"

"I'm going to verify a few things. Don't worry about it. Go sleep." He then left the room, shutting the door behind him with a snap.

"Verify what?" Misaki wondered aloud. Shrugging off the thought, she turned to the oversized bed, realizing that she was actually very tired. She threw back the blankets and was just about to crawl into it when Usui popped his head back into the room.

"Prez, don't try to leave the room. I have the only key," he held the room card up for her to see, "and you won't be able to get back in. Also, people will come in to get the trays. Don't worry about them. Just sleep." And then Usui popped back out, shutting the door quietly this time.

Shaking her head, Misaki yanked the sheets over her and closed her eyes. _Baka Usui,_ she thought. _Where would I possibly go? I don't even know where I am _now._ I've been either asleep or blindfolded every time we've gone somewhere. We could be in a different country for all I know._ Rolling over, Misaki took a deep breath a let sleep claim her yet again.

* * *

"**It's disgraceful, isn't it?"**

"**I know. I mean, I know these people are rich, but seriously? Why the hell would someone order the entire buffet for two people? Does he honestly have **_**that**_** much money to spend?"**

"**He's probably another one of those super rich preppy guys. You know, the ones who have Dads who made all the money and now they're blowing it all just because they can?"**

"**Yeah, I bet you're right. Either that, or his family is some kind of royalty or something."  
"Exactly. I mean, Mary saw them come into the lobby right? She—could you grab that plate?-said that the guy was handsome. As in model super celebrity awesome hot handsome, but he **_**carried in**_** the girl."**

"**No way!"**

"**Yeah, I know, right!"**

"**Do you think he drugged her or something?"**

"**I don't know. It's almost exciting, isn't it? Except for the fact that she could have been kidnapped or something."**

"**Yeah, 'cause that guy would **_**totally**_** kidnap some girl like her. I mean, she's not bad looking, but she isn't going to be on **_**America's Next Top Model.**_**"**

"Totally."

"If he's as hot as Mary said, I don't think I'd mind being kidnapped by him..."

Misaki heard the door to the room close and she waited a few more minutes before carefully opening her eyes. Not seeing anyone in the room, she sat up and looked around the room for the first time. Although smaller than she had expected with Usui's usual flamboyance with expensive things, it was still very luxurious. With the small loveseat in one corner of the room and the two plush leather chairs in the other, there had barely been enough room for all three carts. The peach tones of the room were pleasant, if not somewhat impersonal. Quickly tiring of looking around the room, and completely ignoring the television set, Misaki headed out to the double-door windows and walked out onto the balcony. Two plastic chairs were there and Misaki sat in one as she surveyed the view overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. _If the bridge is still here, at least I know that's I'm still in California, _she thought.

"Did you have a nice nap?"

Startled, Misaki almost leaped out of her chair. Burning with embarrassment, she said shortly, "Yes. It was very nice."

Usui settled down in the chair next to hers. "That's good."

When he didn't say anything more, Misaki grew incredibly uncomfortable with the silence. "So what did you go verify?" she finally asked.

"Ah, our flight back is tomorrow morning. Because of the time difference, we'll have to go to bed earlier than usual."

"Oh, I see."

They lapsed back into silence.

Glancing at Usui's impassive face as he looked at the swirling waters below them, Misaki ventured a question that had been eating away at her since they had left the hiking trails. "Usui, are you... mad at me?"

Although Usui's face did not change, the temperature around them suddenly got much chillier. "No."

"Oh."

Glancing at Misaki's troubled face, Usui relented. "Not mad. More... upset."

"About what?"

**"'And you just **_**kept insisting **_**that he wasn't your boyfriend. Not even you're best friend. Oh no, he's **_**just**_** a friend. And you know, you never even really called him that. Just a something, something alien.'"** He quoted Duena word for word. Switching back to Japanese, he asked quietly, "Is that really all I am, Ayuzawa? Not even your friend?"

"I didn't—I mean, it wasn't—I just... I'm sorry," Misaki finally managed. "I can't really say anything to fix that, can I?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Usui said, half-smiling at her. "C'mon. Food and then bed."

"Already?" Misaki asked in surprise.

"Was Misa-chan not listening? Early bedtime, early flight." He rose and held out his hand to help her up.

Shyly, Misaki took it. "Thanks." However, when Usui kissed her hand in reply, she whipped her hand back and smacked him on the arm, stalking back inside.

Rubbing his arm, Usui followed her, chuckling.

* * *

After dinner, Misaki took her bag of clothes that they had bought at Goodwill who knows how many hours before into the bathroom with her and proceeded to change into her new/old pajamas. Unlocking the door, she walked out of the bathroom to see Usui with his chest bare with just pajama bottoms on. Turning bright red, Misaki walked right back into the bathroom without a word and locked the door. Sitting on the tub-side, she tried to cool her burning face with a wet washcloth.

After a few more minutes, she unlocked the door and carefully peeked out. The curtains were closed and the lights were off making the room completely dark. Only the bright light of the bathroom showed that Usui was already under the covers of the bed. Slipping into the room and turning off the bathroom light, Misaki walked over to the loveseat and curled up on it.

"Prez? What are you doing over there?"

"Attempting to sleep. What else?"

"But there's a bed."

"And you're in it."

When Misaki didn't hear him respond, she assumed that he had accepted her reasoning and had fallen asleep. What she did not expect was to be scooped up and carried over to the bed.

"What—what are you doing?"

"Ayuzawa is going to sleep in the bed," Usui said as he unceremoniously dumped her there.

"I was fine where I was, really," Misaki protested as she tried to climb back out of the bed. "You can sleep here. You haven't gotten enough sleep either. It's fine."

"Ayuzawa is going to sleep in the bed," Usui repeated firmly. He pulled the blankets back so she could crawl under them. When she refused, Usui climbed into bed with her and held onto her as he pulled the covers over them both.

The second Misaki was in his arms, she started babbling while struggling to break his grip on her. "What—this—perverted—you can't—for heaven's sake!"

Instead of answering, Usui shifted his arms so they were both gently but snugly wrapped around her waist, positioning her back against his front.

After more futile squirming, Misaki finally said in defeat, "If I promise to stay in the bed, will you get out?"

"Nope."

"No?" Misaki, obviously anticipating a positive answer, was shocked. "What do you mean, 'no?'"

"Ayuzawa made a good argument."

Internally cursing herself, Misaki tried a different tactic. "Usui, we can't be in the same bed. It's not..." Blushing, Misaki broke off.

"We're just going to sleep, right?"

"Yes!"

"Then what's the problem?"

"We shouldn't..." Misaki couldn't finish her thought.

Usui leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Go to sleep, Ayuzawa. I won't do anything. I promise. Although she couldn't see him, Misaki could feel the sincerity in his voice.

"All right," she agreed quietly. She closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep, listening to Usui's heart beating like a lullaby.

* * *

Misaki blearily opened her eyes. Seeing that the curtains were still drawn and Usui was asleep beside her, she closed her eyes again to go back to sleep. Suddenly here eyes snapped back open as she became very conscious of her proximity to Usui. Not only was she facing him, she was completely curled up in his embrace, her head tucked underneath his chin, and her hands on his chest. Besides that, Usui's leg was between her legs and his arms were securely wrapped around her, eliminating any chance she would have had to be in a less compromising position. And just to make it all worse, Misaki was incredibly comfortable.

Experimenting a little, she pushed a little away from him. Instead of him slackening his hold on her like she expected, Usui pulled her closer, keeping her firmly pressed against his chest. He sighed contentedly.

Figuring that any other movement would be wasted, Misaki allowed herself to fall back asleep.

* * *

When Misaki woke up again, the bed felt strangely empty. Sitting up, she saw that the curtains had been opened wide so the very beginnings of the sunrise were lighting the city. Momentarily confused on why the bed seemed so big, she heard the shower running. Climbing out of bed, she started gathering up her few belongings that were lying out.

After everything was packed up again, she flopped back onto the bed and waited for Usui to come out of the bathroom. It was only after a few seconds that she realized that the shower was no longer running. Looking over to the bathroom door, she saw that Usui was leaning against the door-frame, wearing nothing but a towel around his hips, watching her.

Slapping a hand over her eyes and turning around, she said angrily, "You could've just told me that the shower was free!"

"And where's the fun in that?" Usui whispered into her ear.

Jumping, Misaki turned to glare at him. Remembering too late that he still didn't have anything on but a towel, Misaki ignored Usui's smirk and her own red face, grabbed her bag, and all but ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Expecting the be enveloped in steam, Misaki was surprised to find the bathroom slightly chilly. When she turned on the shower, the water confirmed her suspicions. Opening the door a crack, she called out, "Usui, why would you take a cold shower? This water is freezing!"

"I like cold showers."

"You _like_ them? Why?"

"They have interesting experienced attached to them."

"Experiences? What, like getting goosebumps?"

"Yes. Exactly like that."

Usui's voice was so flat that Misaki couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. Shrugging it off, she closed the door and checked the temperature of the water again. Being satisfactory, Misaki took her shower and put Usui's random cleaning habits out of her mind as she washed off the grime of their earlier escapades.

* * *

Yay! Chapter completed. Now, I'm not going to tell you to look for the next chapter anytime soon at all. I have no idea when I will put in the attempt again. It's really just getting the chapter going than it is finishing it. As soon as I've started and I don't get interrupted, then there's usually no problem. I actually started this chapter about two weeks ago, but got called away for some reason or another. I think I just got hungry...

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, and reviewing is always nice and appreciated, whether you're a new reader or someone who's aggravated beyond belief that I'm only updating NOW. But hey, at least I DID continue, right?


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